President Donald Trump has taken to social media to claim that Russia has suffered staggering losses in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Over recent months, Trump has become increasingly vocal about the Russian war on Ukraine, calling for peace and issuing ultimatums to Russia's president, Vladimir Putin.
Posting on Truth Social on Friday, Trump wrote: “I have just been informed that almost 20,000 Russian soldiers died this month in the ridiculous War with Ukraine. Russia has lost 112,500 soldiers since the beginning of the year. That is a lot of unnecessary DEATH!”
He added: “Ukraine, however, has also suffered greatly. They have lost approximately 8,000 soldiers since January 1, 2025, and that number does not include their missing. Ukraine has also lost civilians, but in smaller numbers, as Russian rockets crash into Kyiv, and other Ukrainian locales.”
Calling the conflict a “war that should have never happened,” the POTUS then took a shot at his predecessor, writing: “This is Biden’s War, not ‘TRUMP’s.’ I’m just here to see if I can stop it!”
Rising tensions and threats of new sanctions
Since returning to office in January, Trump has made ending the war one of his key foreign policy objectives. But despite three rounds of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in Istanbul, no ceasefire has been reached.
The latest negotiations focused solely on prisoner swaps, according to a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to The New York Post.
With peace efforts stalled, Trump has turned up the pressure on Moscow. He recently threatened to impose “very severe tariffs” if Russian attacks on Ukraine continue into September. The president confirmed that new secondary sanctions targeting countries buying Russian oil, gas, and uranium are scheduled to take effect on August 8.
Trump has also announced the deployment of two US nuclear submarines to “the appropriate regions,” reportedly in response to a tense exchange with a former Russian president.
At a press conference Thursday, he said he was "very disappointed" with Vladimir Putin and condemned the recent missile strikes on Kyiv that killed at least 31 civilians, including five children.
“Russia, I think it's disgusting what they're doing,” Trump told reporters, per BBC News.
“You have bodies lying all over the street”
Trump’s criticism of Putin has become increasingly direct. Speaking to journalists late last month, he described repeated Russian airstrikes on civilian targets as a betrayal of prior peace overtures.
“We thought we had it settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said. “You have bodies lying all over the street, and I say that’s not the way to do it. So we’ll see what happens with that.”
Despite these criticisms, Trump has not yet met with Putin during his second term. His special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Russia next following diplomatic stops in Israel and Gaza, though no formal meeting has been announced.
Putin defiant as White House deadline looms
Speaking from the Valaam Monastery in northwest Russia on Friday, Putin said he still supported ongoing negotiations but issued a veiled warning to the West. “All disappointments arise from inflated expectations,” the Russian leader said. “Our enemies and ill-wishers... now have one fiery passion: to stop our advance [on the front line in Ukraine] at any cost.”
While Trump originally gave Moscow 50 days to cease hostilities, that deadline was later shortened to just 10–12 days, expiring on August 8. So far, Putin has shown no sign of responding.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, appearing alongside Putin on the island retreat, mocked Trump’s ultimatum: “50 days, 60 days, 10 days. You don't do politics like that.”
According to state media reports, many in Moscow believe the US will not follow through on its threats of tougher sanctions.
Over 1 million casualties and counting
Despite Trump's startling post, the total human cost of the conflict still remains unclear.
Both Ukraine and Russia tightly control their casualty figures, often to maintain morale or messaging. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on July 10 that Russia had lost “100,000 soldiers — dead — not injured — dead” in 2025 alone.
Ukrainian sources cited by The Kyiv Independent estimated Russian troop losses in July at 33,000, while The Wall Street Journal reported in September last year that over 1 million troops had been killed or wounded on both sides since the start of the war.
Despite the conflicting numbers, Trump maintains that the ongoing bloodshed must stop. "That is a lot of unnecessary DEATH," he wrote in his post. “I’m just here to see if I can stop it.”