Russian Military Suffers 2,240 Losses in 5 Days Despite Missile Attacks

Ukraine eliminated more than 2,200 Russian soldiers over a five day period this week, according to one estimate, even though the war-torn country has been recovering from Russian President Vladimir Putin's latest missile barrages.

From Monday through Friday, Russia lost an estimated total of 2,240 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Eastern European country's estimates suggest that Moscow has lost 93,390 personnel overall since the start of the war on February 24 through Friday.

Newsweek was not able to independently verify the Russian troop losses and reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for confirmation and comment.

Meanwhile, Russia has carried out a series of missile attacks on Ukraine in recent months that have targeted its energy infrastructure and civilian areas, sparking concerns about how the country's population will fare during the upcoming cold winter months. In light of the latest wave of attacks on Monday, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget A. Brink decried the strikes on Twitter and said that they were part of Russia's "cruel strategy" to "bring its war into every Ukrainian home."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during his nightly televised address on Monday that Ukraine was able to destroy most of the approximately 70 missiles that Russia launched. However, he acknowledged that Moscow achieved "several hits" during Monday's attacks, which he described as acts of "Russian terror."

The aid organization, Mercy Corps, told Newsweek earlier this week that if Russia maintains the pace and intensity of its missile attacks, Ukraine could see its power grid collapse within weeks.

Putin has framed the series of missile strikes as a response to what he alleges is provocation from Ukraine. Specifically, he has railed against the country over an explosion in October that damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula and is also a key supply route for the Russian president's troops. Putin blamed Ukraine for the explosion and vowed to respond, though Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for it.

In a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week, Putin said that Russia had refrained from launching missile strikes on certain Ukrainian targets for a period of time in the war, "but now such measures have become an unavoidable and inevitable response" to Kyiv's alleged provocation.

Dan Soller, a former U.S. Army intelligence colonel, told Newsweek that Russia's missile attacks appear to be having a "pretty detrimental effect" on Ukrainians. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said during a news conference in November that nearly half of Ukraine's energy system had been disabled as Russia continued its strikes, according to the BBC.

"I think in the near term, [Russia's] goal is to continue to target Ukraine into submission over this winter, make them freeze," Soller said.

During an awards ceremony at the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin indicated that the attacks on Ukraine's power grid would continue moving forward.

"Yes, we do that," Putin said of the strikes, according to The Guardian. "But who started it? There's a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighboring country. This will not interfere with our combat missions."