Humiliated Putin sends dead Russian soldiers to Ukraine to hide staggering losses

Russia has been returning the bodies of its own fallen soldiers to Ukraine under the guise of prisoner-of-war exchanges in an effort to hide the scale of its battlefield losses, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed.

Zelenskyy believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is using the tactic to obscure the true extent of casualties sustained over more than three years of war.

“Putin is afraid to admit how many people have died,” Zelenskyy said during a media briefing, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Saturday that Russian losses have now reached 1,010,000 since the invasion began in February 2022.

While both warring nations rarely disclose official casualty numbers, Zelenskyy argues that the Kremlin is deliberately concealing the human cost of the conflict to avoid discouraging potential recruits.

According to Zelenskyy, during a recent prisoner exchange earlier this month, several bodies returned to Ukraine—purportedly fallen Ukrainian soldiers—were in fact deceased Russian troops.

“This shows how little human life means to Russia. Or maybe it's just a way to avoid paying compensation to the families,” added Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko.

(QG - Source: Newsweek - Picture : © Unsplash)