Europe 1 with AFP 6:32 p.m., February 27, 2022, modified at 6:33 p.m., February 27, 2022
"The Russian military is showing courage in carrying out their combat missions (...). Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. But our losses are much less" than in the Ukrainian camp, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov.
The Russian army admitted for the first time on Sunday to record human losses during its invasion of Ukraine, without however figures.
"The Russian military is showing courage in carrying out their combat missions (...). Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. But our losses are much less" than in the Ukrainian camp, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov.
Fear of Russian public opinion
The Kremlin is regularly accused by its opponents of ignoring the death of Russian soldiers killed in combat so as not to attract the wrath of public opinion still traumatized by very deadly conflicts, particularly in Afghanistan in the 1980s, then in Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s.
At least 198 Ukrainians killed
The government and power-controlled Russian media are presenting the ongoing invasion of Ukraine as a military "operation" confined to Donbass (east), while fighting is taking place from south to north, including Kiev.
On Saturday, Ukraine claimed that at least 198 civilians had been killed since the start of the Russian invasion.
Kiev also said to have killed several thousand Russian soldiers, an unverifiable assertion from an independent source.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched by Vladimir Putin on Thursday, sparked international outcry and sanctions against Moscow.