Russia-Ukraine war: Kyiv sustained almost 65k casualties from Russia's Battlegroup North, says report

Since May this year, war-torn Ukraine almost 65,000 casualties from Russia's Battlegroup North, a report by the TASS news agency on Monday (Nov 25) said. 

Citing reports from the Russian defence ministry, TASS reported that the Battlegroup North inflicted 64,700 casualties on Ukraine since May.

Since mid-May, Ukrainians sustained at least 2,500 casualties per week from the Battlegroup West, data from the defence ministry showed. 

Ukraine shows fragments of new Russian missile

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on since late February 2022.

The developments reported by TASS came a day after Ukraine showed fragments of the Russian missiles used to strike Dnipro last week after Moscow said it had tested its new Oreshnik ballistic missile.

Also read | Russia fires senior commander for reporting ‘false victories’ in eastern Ukraine: Report

On Thursday (Nov 21), Russia carried out a strike on Dnipro which President Vladimir Putin said was a test of its new Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

On Sunday, Ukraine's SBU security service displayed metal fragments (of the missile) ranging from bulky to tiny, a report by the news agency AFP said.

The SBU did not name the missile used but said it was a type they had not seen before.

Zelensky highlights increased level of Shahed drone attacks

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he feared that the country would become a testing ground for Russian munitions, as he highlighted the increased level of Shahed drone attacks.

Zelensky's remark came as Ukraine was targeted by nearly 500 drones in the past week. Shahed, also known by its Russian designation Geran-2, is an Iranian-designed munition. 

Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia had set up two factories to make Shahed 136 drones, about 1,287 kilometres (800 miles) from the border in Ukraine. 

(With inputs from agencies)