Putin Boasts Russia 'Lost Nothing' In Ukraine War Despite Reports 51,250 Soldiers Died

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has "lost nothing" since invading Ukraine despite the Ukrainian military saying Russia has suffered more than 51,000 casualties in the war.

"I am sure that we have not lost anything and will not lose anything," Putin said during his speech at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian port city of Vladivostok Wednesday.

"The main gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty, and this is the inevitable result of what is happening now," he said, according to a report by Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.

Putin's statement comes as Russian authorities have reportedly started a recruitment drive to replace losses in Ukraine.

Russia's Ministry of Defense last released the country's official death toll from the war in March, claiming its fatalities numbered 1,351 at the time.

Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona reported 5,801 Russian military deaths as of Aug. 25.

Russia may have already suffered between 70,000 and 80,000 casualties, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl revealed in August.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed in a recent casualty report the figure for combat losses among Russian personnel between the start of the invasion on Feb. 24 and Thursday was 51,250.

Russian losses also included 2,112 tanks, 4,557 armored fighting vehicles, 239 aircraft, 210 helicopters and 1,226 artillery systems, among other military equipment.

In contrast, around 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers died in the first 100 days of the invasion, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in June.

Russia is struggling to find more soldiers to fight in Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official claimed, according to a report by the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Despite expanded efforts, many recruits are older, in bad shape and are receiving little training, the unnamed official said.

"Russia has already begun trying to expand recruitment efforts. They've done this, in part, by eliminating the upper age limit for new recruits. [But] many of these new recruits have been observed as older, unfit, and ill-trained," the official claimed.