Official: Russian Armed Forces lose nearly 500 men in Ukraine

The Russian Defence Ministry has revealed new information about the losses of the Russian Armed Forces during the special operation in Ukraine.

According to official representative of the ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, as many as 498 Russian servicemen were killed and 1,597 were wounded. The families of the victims receive all necessary assistance, he added.

"The information that many Western and certain Russian media disseminate about the allegedly "incalculable” losses of the Russian Armed Forces is being deliberately disseminated as misinformation,” Konashenkov concluded, adding that neither conscripts nor cadets of educational institutions of the Ministry of Defence participate in the special operation.

The representative of the Defence Ministry also said that the losses of the Ukrainian side amount to more than 2,870 people. Another 3,700 servicemen were injured.

The Russian troops have taken 572 Ukrainian servicemen as POWs.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to conduct a special operation in the Donbass. According to him, the decision came in response to requests for military assistance from the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.