(NewsGlobal.com)- Army General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated on Wednesday that there may have been as many as 100,000 Russian soldiers killed or wounded since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Milley delivered the estimate when he gave an address at The Economic Club of New York. He said an estimated 40,000 Ukrainian civilians have also been killed due to the conflict.
Milley noted that there had been a tremendous amount of suffering, and it has been human suffering.
This week, Russia declared that it would withdraw from the vital city of Kherson, located in Ukraine, which is a significant defeat for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As Ukrainian forces approached the city from two different angles and severed the supply lines for Russian soldiers, the Kremlin issued an order for its troops to retreat from the area.
In September, Russia announced that it had annexed four different parts of Ukraine, and one of those territories was Kherson. If Russia were to withdraw its forces from the region, it would signify that it is ceding control of thousands of square kilometers of the territory it had previously annexed.
However, Ukrainian officials continue to express skepticism regarding the evacuation of Russian forces. Zelensky has warned that the Russians may act as though they will withdraw from the region to entice Ukrainian troops to the conflict.
Given that 20,000 to 30,000 troops are stationed in Kherson, according to Milley, a complete withdrawal from the city of Kherson would take Russia several weeks.
He said the first signs point to the fact that they are carrying it out. They went ahead and announced to the general public that they would be doing it. But, he believes they are doing it to maintain their army to reestablish defensive lines south of the (Dnieper) river, “but that remains to be seen.”
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he was open to initiating peace talks with the Kremlin if Russia restored all of the Ukrainian regions it annexed in September, provided compensation for war losses, and faced punishment for war crimes.
