Biden says how many soldiers Russia lost in Bakhmut

Russia has lost over 100,000 people in the fighting for Bakhmut. US President Joe Biden said this at a press conference after the G7 summit in Japan.

People talk about Bakhmut - whether they lost it or not. The truth is that Russia suffered more than 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut. That will be hard to replace. It doesn't matter if it's occupied or not - there aren't many buildings left there anyway. It's a substantially destroyed city. But they have managed to tie up a lot of Russian troops, including the Wagner group," he said.

At the same time, Biden spoke about the impending transfer of US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. He noted that they will no longer have time to help the Ukrainians in a counter-offensive, but will assist in the defence and liberation of Ukrainian territories later.

But they will be deployed if Ukraine succeeds in the short term," the US president said.

We would like to point out that Kiev estimates Russia's losses in Bakhmut at 70,000 Russian soldiers.

We would like to add that according to the Ukrainian side, the fighting for the city continues.