Putin humiliated as number of Russian troops killed in Ukraine war shared by UK spy chief | World | News
A British intelligence agency has announced the number of Russian soldiers killed since the unlawful war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Anne Keast-Butler, head of the UK intelligence agency GCHQ, said new intelligence showed nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers had died in the war in Ukraine since Vladimir Putin ordered the illegal invasion of the neighboring country.
This is the first time the official count of Russian war deaths has been made available to the public since February 2022. Although Russia does not release official figures, previous analyzes gave an assessment of total Russian combat casualties, including soldiers killed as well as wounded.
Ms Keast-Butler said the distressing figure showed Vladimir Putin was “going backwards on the battlefield”.
Delivering the agency’s annual threat assessment at Bletchley Park on May 27, Ms Keast-Butler said Russia had “increased its daily hybrid activity” against the UK and Europe. He said Moscow “relentlessly targets critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust.”
Russia has previously denied involvement in hybrid attacks on European territory.
Ms Keast-Butler said GCHQ was working with intelligence and defense partners to “degrade and reduce” the Russian threat.
He also said: “One of the areas of sharp focus for us is protecting the data and energy flowing along critical cables and pipelines in and around British waters – we do this by revealing Russia’s intent, motive and underwater capabilities.
“We are also disrupting Russia’s efforts to hijack Western technology, fend off cyberattacks, and counter reckless sabotage and assassination attempts.”
This high number of deaths in the war means a major blow for Putin, who is dragging his country into a war that is expected to last only a few days and will deeply affect the Russian economy.
Speaking at the Vatican, he said: “I am following with concern the war in Ukraine. War does not solve problems, but aggravates them. It does not build security, but multiplies suffering and hatred”.
