US Says 20,000 Russians Killed In Ukraine War Since December

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says it now estimates that just since December Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed, as Ukraine has rebuffed a heavy-assault in eastern Ukraine.

In what has become a grinding war of attrition, the fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of dogged Ukrainian defense.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says the U.S. estimate is based on newly declassified American intelligence.

He did not detail how the intelligence community derived the number.