UK Says Russia Has Lost 500,000 Troops as Putin Warns Europe Not to Send Its Own

Since Donbas defenders faced daily bombardment reported September 10, Russia's air campaign against Ukrainian civilians has not let up, and Britain's military chief has now put a number on Moscow's own losses that dwarfs anything previously confirmed.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the UK's Chief of the Defense Staff, told reporters Friday that more than 500,000 Russian troops have been killed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, out of 1.5 million total Russian casualties, according to the New York Post. Knighton said Russia has also lost more than 10,000 armored and protected vehicles, nearly 3,000 air defense and artillery systems, and over 370 aircraft and helicopters. He did not give a Ukrainian loss figure. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv publishes regular casualty data, and there was no immediate response from Russian officials to Knighton's numbers, which the Post notes roughly track Ukraine's own public figures.

Those losses have not stopped Russia's advance, but Western officials and analysts cited by the Post say the pace of that advance has slowed significantly this year despite Moscow's larger army.

Strikes keep hitting civilians

Russian drones and missiles killed three civilians and wounded dozens more across Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Two people died and one was wounded when drones struck a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. One person was killed and three wounded in Kryvyi Rih.

In Odesa, regional head Oleh Kiper called the overnight strike a "massive attack" that destroyed the upper floors of a residential highrise. Wounded counts varied by report time: ABC News and The Independent put the Odesa toll at 28, while wire versions carried by Local10, Click on Detroit, KSAT and WTOP put it at 35, reflecting the death toll climbing as the AP updated its own reporting through the morning.

That follows a string of strikes on civilian infrastructure earlier in the week reported by the Post. Russian drones hit two Ukrnafta gas stations in Kyiv on back-to-back days, killing two people and wounding six at one location. The central city of Pavlohrad held an official day of mourning Friday for five residents killed by drones near shopping malls in broad daylight, an attack that wounded 67 more, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. "Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximize casualties, spread fear, and put pressure on Ukrainian society," Sybiha wrote on X.

Putin's warning, and the peacekeeping question

Speaking to reporters at the BRICS summit in India on Friday, Putin said any European troop deployment to Ukraine would amount to "a war with Russia." Some European governments have floated a postwar peacekeeping force, an idea Moscow has repeatedly rejected. Putin also denied Russia poses any threat to Europe: "We do not threaten, nor do we intend to threaten, European countries," he said, according to the AP.

Putin's warning may reflect a genuine Russian red line against NATO-adjacent forces on Ukrainian soil, one Moscow has held since before the invasion, and European governments weighing troop deployments should consider the risk of direct escalation. Whether that risk is real or whether Putin's statement is calculated to deter Western support without any Russian intention to expand the war remains unclear.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that two border incidents this week were a preview of what he called intensified Russian provocations at Ukraine's crossing points with Europe. Two people died when drones hit the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday night, Tusk said, and a "direct threat" to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point Wednesday night was averted only through cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv.

A possible Putin-Zelensky meeting, maybe, in Miami

In an interview with Deutsche Welle published Saturday, Zelensky said he would meet Putin if both leaders are invited to the G20 summit scheduled for December in Miami. Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Saturday that the Kremlin has not yet discussed whether Putin would attend. The Kremlin has previously said Zelensky is welcome to come to Moscow for a meeting, a proposal Kyiv has rejected.

No G20 invitation list has been confirmed publicly, and no date for a Putin-Zelensky sit-down exists. Whether either leader actually shows up in Miami in December, or whether the war's daily strikes make that prospect moot before then, remains open.