Zelensky: Russia lost 54,400 troops in October as Ukraine retook more territory than Russia captured

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, announcing the results of October on November 1, said Ukraine's Defence Forces inflicted record losses on the enemy this month and retook more territory than the Russian occupation forces captured.

Zelensky said in his statement: “In October, Ukraine's Defence Forces inflicted record losses on the enemy and retook more territory than the Russian occupation forces captured. In just one month, Russia lost 54,400 of its soldiers killed or seriously wounded. This is the highest loss in a single month since the start of the war.”

According to the Ukrainian President, on October 21 the Russian army reached a daily loss record, losing 2,250 soldiers in one day. Zelensky added: “All Russia has to do to stop these heavy losses is to choose a ceasefire and diplomacy.” These figures are the Ukrainian side's claim; the Russian side has not commented on the statement.

Earlier the same day, in his weekly update, Zelensky said that over one week the Russian army launched 1,940 attack drones, more than 1,580 guided aerial bombs (KABs) and 44 missiles of various types at Ukraine, 36 of them ballistic.

On October 18, Zelensky had also said that since the start of autumn Ukrainian forces had liberated more territory than the Russians had captured. Ukraine's Third Army Corps announced on October 14 that it had retaken 101 square kilometres in the Lyman direction of Donetsk region.

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine began in February 2022. The sides regularly publish figures on each other's losses, and these figures are not independently verified.