Pentagon says Russia has suffered as many as 80,000 casualties in Ukraine and lost thousands of armored vehicles

• Russia has seen as many as 80,000 casualties in Ukraine, according to a senior Pentagon official.
• Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters Russia has also lost as many as 4,000 armored vehicles.

Russia has suffered as many as 80,000 casualties in its war against Ukraine and lost thousands of armored vehicles, according to a senior defense official.

Roughly 70,000 to 80,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the first five and a half months of the war, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said during a press briefing Monday, adding that the figure is "pretty remarkable considering that the Russians have achieved none of Vladimir Putin's objectives at the beginning of the war."

Russia attempted to seize the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early in its invasion, which began in late February, but repeated setbacks coupled with tough Ukrainian resistance saw Russia redirect its focus to eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are now locked in a grinding artillery battle.

Last month, CIA director William Burns said the US estimated around 15,000 Russians were killed and 45,000 were wounded. And toward the end of July, reports said that US intelligence indicated that Russia had suffered as many as 75,000 casualties.

Prior to the invasion, Russia amassed a significant force of more than 150,000 troops along the border, according to US assessments. The exact number of Russian troops sent into Ukraine remains unclear though.

In addition to high casualties among Russian personnel, Kahl said that the Russian military has also lost between 3,000 and 4,000 armored vehicles in Ukraine. He attributed the losses to anti-armor systems like the Javelin anti-tank missiles provided by the US and the "creativity" and "ingenuity" with which the Ukrainians have used those systems.

The US has provided Ukraine with ammunition and weaponry to bolster its defenses in the face of Russian aggression, and on Monday, the Pentagon announced another $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.

The latest weapons package will include additional ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155 mm artillery systems like the M777, and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), 1,000 Javelin missiles, and other anti-armor weapon systems.