NATO secretary general: Monthly Russian losses in Ukraine equal to US losses over 14 years of Vietnam War

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that Russia is losing over 40,000 troops killed and seriously wounded in Ukraine every month, and compared these losses to those suffered by the US over 14 years of the Vietnam War.

Rutte said in his speech at the Atlantic Future Forum that Russian ruler Vladimir Putin is failing on the battlefield, as over the past few months Russia has been losing more than 40,000 troops killed and seriously wounded every month.

"The United States in 14 years, in Vietnam, lost 56,000. Here in one month, Russia, dead or seriously wounded, 40,000. And in October, early reporting indicates this number may have climbed to over 50,000. Fifty thousand in one month," he said.

He added that against the backdrop of his failure on the battlefield, Putin is trying to break Ukraine's will to fight by attacking the civilian population, striking Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones and seeking to destroy critical infrastructure ahead of winter.

"Russia has also ramped up its campaign of hostile actions across Europe. Putin is trying to divide us, destabilise our societies and disrupt our support for Ukraine with arson, drone incidents, cyber-attacks and other malicious activities. But let's be clear. He is failing. For every Russian hybrid attack against our nations, we are sending more support to Ukraine," he noted.

NATO estimated that Russia suffered more than 50,000 casualties in its war against Ukraine in September, 28,000 of whom were killed. This figure was significantly higher than the losses suffered by Ukraine's Armed Forces.

In the summer, NATO estimated that Russia had lost more than 1.4 million troops in its war against Ukraine.