Moscow said about 6,000 troops were killed. Ukraine has not said how many of its soldiers have died since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022.
The goal of the Russian invasion, to "demilitarize" Ukraine, has achieved the opposite as Kiev's army has been strengthened by supplying weapons and training its Western allies. Russian forces shot down "a large number" of drones in Belgorod, a local official said Wednesday, a day after Moscow announced its forces crushed a cross-border incursion into the region.