Russian Soldier Death Toll Surpasses 180,000 With 540 Dead In 24 Hours: UAF

Russian forces achieved a grim milestone this week in its invasion of Ukraine after their fatalities crossed the 180,000 mark.

According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, at least 540 Russian troops were killed on the battlefield Thursday, pushing the Russian death toll to 180,590 since the war began more than a year ago.

The Ukrainian military reported more combat losses on the Russian side in the last 24 hours, including 10 armored personnel vehicles (APVs), seven artillery systems, one anti-aircraft system, and five operational-tactical level unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

So far, Russia has lost 3,646 tanks, 7,053 APVs, 2,777 artillery systems, 283 anti-aircraft systems, and 2,339 UAVs since launching its so-called "special military operation" against Ukraine in February last year.

In its latest update, the Ukrainian military accused Russia of violating international humanitarian laws after it allegedly carried out 11 air strikes and 20 shelling attacks against both civilian settlements and troop positions across Ukraine.

Russian forces reportedly conducted fresh shelling attacks against several settlements in the Ukrainian regions of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

According to the Ukrainian general prosecutor's office, Russian artillery strikes Wednesday in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions killed two civilians and injured five others.

Ukraine had already launched an investigation into the latest Russian attack, Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency reported.

Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Serhii Lysak said Russian attacks damaged 13 civilian homes, two farm buildings and a car in the city of Nikopol.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said the Russian forces in the occupied Luhansk region are ramping up their counterintelligence operations over fears of leaks of information about their units' deployment.

Russian occupiers in Luhansk increased the number of patrols in the region and began confiscating mobile phones from civilians when searching their premises, according to Ukraine's military. Russian forces also introduced banning civilians from leaving their settlements.

Meanwhile, the European Union recently imposed sanctions against the private Russian mercenary group Wagner and the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency for supporting the invasion of Ukraine.

The European Council said the two Russian entities were sanctioned for "undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

"The EU stands firmly and fully with Ukraine and will continue to provide strong political, economic, military, financial and humanitarian support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes," the European Council said in a statement Thursday, CNN reported.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is the leader of the Wagner group and also heads the board of trustees of the Patriot Media Group, to which RIA Novosti belongs.

So far, the E.U. has imposed sanctions on 1,473 individuals and 207 entities for supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

E.U.-imposed sanctions include freezing the sanctioned individuals or groups' assets in Europe and barring its citizens from transacting with those included in the designation.