President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that Russia had deployed over 600,000 military men in Ukraine, nearly two years after directing his troops to take the capital, Kyiv.
After months of large-scale warfare, Kyiv and Moscow are reported to have suffered significant casualties, with the US estimating that 315,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or injured.
“The front line is over 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) long. There are 617,000 people in the conflict zone,” Putin said during his first end-of-year press conference since sending his army into Ukraine in February 2022.
He also stated that 244,000 mobilized troops are currently stationed in Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.
Putin made the remarks during his end-of-year press conference, where he stated that there were no urgent intentions to re-mobilize Russian men for the conflict.