Zelenskyy warns Russian military deaths will reach 1M by year's end - CBS
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Russian killed in action to hit 1M by end of 2026 (Photo: Presidential Office)
Russian military fatalities could reach one million by the end of 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with CBS News broadcast on Sept. 16.
The total number of Russian soldiers killed during five years of full-scale war against Ukraine will near one million, with Russian forces projected to lose another 300,000 killed before the end of this year alone, he told CBS News.
"We believe the Russians will lose 300,000 people this year. We are speaking strictly about those killed in action. This means they will reach one million dead over five years of war. Once again — one million killed," Zelenskyy said.
The head of state emphasized that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin presses forward with his aggression against Ukraine because he does not face adequate internal pressure from Russian society. Zelenskyy noted that while Putin has no genuine desire for peace, he recognizes the necessity of finding an exit ramp that can be marketed domestically as an outright "victory."
"He considers his baseline objective to be the complete occupation of Donetsk Oblast, and that is what he is selling to his people," Zelenskyy said, observing that the Kremlin continually postpones its self-imposed deadlines to achieve that goal.
Russian staggering historical losses
On Sept. 9, AFU General Staff reported that total Russian personnel losses since the beginning of the full-scale invasion exceeded 1.5 million killed and wounded. The figure represents Moscow’s highest military casualties in a single conflict since World War II, surpassing the combined losses of the Soviet and Russian armies across every war and armed engagement of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Total losses of 1.5 million are 100 times higher than the Soviet Union's official casualty toll during its ten-year campaign in Afghanistan, and 125 times higher than Russia's officially admitted casualties across the First and Second Chechen Wars.
On Aug. 12, Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that Ukrainian forces eliminated and wounded 42,860 Russian combatants during July alone — marking the highest single-month casualty rate since January 2025 alongside record-breaking destruction of Russian military transport and utility vehicles.
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