The Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) has accused the Russian Defense Ministry of "hiding the losses suffered in Ukraine."
According to the New York Times, this is according to US intelligence documents leaked online. According to the documents, the FSB claims that the official number of the dead and wounded did not include the Russian National Guard servicemen, the "Wagner" group, and the troops of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
The excerpt from the February 28 document says that the FSB explained this "in order not to report unpleasant news to the leadership, motivated by the military." According to the publication, the FSB has calculated that the number of Russians wounded and killed in the battles is about 110,000.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation last reported about the casualties of Russian service members in Ukraine in September of last year. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that since the beginning of the war (from February to September 2022), about 6 thousand Russian servicemen have died.
