Ukraine war briefing: Russia suffered record casualties in 2024, claims Ukrainian commander in chief | Ukraine

Russia suffered 434,000 casualties in 2024, the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has claimed, saying it was more than the previous two years combined. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview broadcast on Sunday evening that the figure included 150,000 deaths. Syrskyi did not give a figure for Ukrainian casualties. Ukraine’s General Staff also reported over the weekend that almost 819,000 Russian soldiers had been killed, captured or wounded since the start of the war. In December 2024, Kyiv said 2,200 Russian soldiers died in the space of 24 hours, its worst toll since the start of the war. Western tallies for Russian casualties are lower, with an assessment in October last year stating up to 115,000 had been killed and 500,000 wounded since the start of the full-scale invasion.

Moscow has opened a criminal investigation into claims Ukraine killed civilians in the western Russian Kursk region. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, alleged Ukrainian troops “committed the murder of at least seven civilians, who were sheltering in the basement of a residential house” in the village of Russkoe Porechnoye, 20km (12 miles) from the border. Ukraine did not officially respond to the allegations. Both Ukraine and Russia regularly accuse the other of attacking non-combatants, and both deny the claims. Russia’s foreign spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, accused Ukraine of the “cannibalistic massacre of civilians”. After launching a surprise offensive attack in the Kursk region, Ukraine has controlled dozens of border settlements, and says around 2,000 civilians live in occupied areas. Several Russian state media outlets published video, supplied by the army, that they said showed Russian troops discovering several dead bodies in a dark basement. AFP could not immediately verify the claims or the video. Russian forces are accused of having murdered hundreds of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, during a month-long occupation at the start of the conflict.

Ukraine shot down 43 out of the 61 drones launched by Russia on Sunday night, its airforce said. It also said that 15 other drones were “lost”, after being redirected by Kyiv’s use of electronic warfare. No major damage or casualties were immediately reported by officials.

Russian troops have captured the village of Vozdvyzhenka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing the Russian defence ministry. Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Ukrainians celebrated Orthodox holiday Epiphany on Sunday, despite the war sparking a religious divide. “There’s explosions here, bangs there, we always expect something bad. But now we just stood still, forgot about everything, and prayed to God,” military medic Natalya told AFP. Ukrainians have largely moved away from the Ukrainian Orthodox church – which sits under the Moscow Patriarchate – since the invasion, with the majority now following a Kyiv-led church. The Ukrainian Orthodox church remains controversial for not formally breaking away from Moscow’s leadership, though it has denounced the war and denied it depends on Russia.