Russia-Ukraine: Ukraine claims forces have killed 5,840 Russian troops

Ukraine's armed forces say the preliminary figures represent all losses inflicted on Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion.

The claims have not been verified but match reports from the UK defence ministry believes that Moscow's forces have suffered heavy losses during its invasion of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defence has given on update on the latest intelligence on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An armed man stands at the Independent Square (Maidan) in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Picture; Efrem Lukatsky

A tweet read: “While Russian forces have reportedly moved into the centre of Kherson in the south, overall gains across axes have been limited in the last 24 hours.

“This is probably due to a combination of ongoing logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.

“Heavy Russian artillery and air strikes have continued to target built-up areas over the past 24 hours, primarily focused on the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv.

“The number of civilians displaced and forced to flee Putin’s invasion has reportedly passed 660,000.”

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK was leading the way in supplying anti-air weapons to counter Russian jets.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “There are two ways to achieve a no-fly zone. One is the way that Britain has led the way in, which is arming the Ukrainians with anti-air capabilities, from the ground to the air, and the reason they are doing the bombing at night is because they can’t – because of those weapon systems – the Russians cannot fly much in the day.”

The total Russian losses being claimed by Ukraine so far include:

5,840 troops 30 aircraft 31 helicopters Up to 211 tanks 862 armoured patrol vehicles (APVs) 85 artillery systems 9 anti-aircraft systems 60 fuel tanks 355 vehicles 40 MLRS rocket launchers (captured)

General Sir Adrian Bradshaw, Nato’s former deputy supreme allied commander, has said Nato cannot impose a no-fly zone on Ukraine as this would lead to the “third world war”.

He said: “This is not like Iraq; we’re up against sophisticated enemy with very capable air defence assets.

“This becomes a struggle between the forces of Nato and the forces of Russia, on the ground, quite probably from the sea, in the air, in the space domain, in the information domain and in the cyber domain.”