Pentagon: As many as 80,000 Russian troops killed, injured in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)

Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, as many as 80,000 Russian troops have been wounded or killed during fighting, the Pentagon said Monday.

Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters that the U.S. casualty estimate is "pretty remarkable considering that the Russians have achieved none of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's objectives at the beginning of the war." The overall objective, Kahl added, "was to overrun the entire country, to engage in regime change in Kyiv, to snuff out Ukraine as an independent sovereign and democratic nation. None of that has happened."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.