FLASH
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Almost 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the UK's largest spy agency.
The figures were revealed by GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler in her first public speech as she set out the threats facing the UK and the measures she believes should be taken to tackle them.
The spy chief warned that the UK is in a "moment of consequence" with Russia "relentlessly targeting" critical infrastructure across the country.
She also blamed the Kremlin for a series of espionage plots on British soil and, most recently, for waging an undeclared 'hybrid war' against the UK and other NATO countries.
While both Kiev and Moscow have regularly published estimates of the other side's losses, they have been reluctant to provide details of their own.
However, in February, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine had lost 55,000 soldiers since 2022.
BBC News Russian has been counting Russian war casualties together with independent media outlet Mediazona and a group of volunteers since February 2022. A list of named individuals whose deaths we were able to confirm using official reports, newspapers, social media and new memorials and graves is maintained.
The BBC has so far been able to confirm the names of 223,539 soldiers and officers killed fighting for the Russian side in Ukraine.
The true death toll is believed to be much higher, and military experts we consulted believe that our analysis of cemeteries, war memorials and obituaries could represent 45-65% of the total.
Speaking from Bletchley Park, the site of codebreaking during World War II, Keast-Butler singled out Russia for “targeting critical infrastructure, democratic processes, supply chains and public trust.” The Kremlin has denied the accusations.
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