Russia says wounded soldiers make it top prosthetic limb maker

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Russia on Thursday said the number of soldiers wounded fighting against Ukraine had made it a world leader in prosthetic limbs.

Moscow keeps the number of soldiers killed and wounded in its Ukraine offensive top secret and rarely discloses information about casualties, but independent estimates put the figures in the hundreds of thousands.

Deputy Defence Minister Anna Tsivilyova, reportedly a relative of President Vladimir Putin, said those coming back from the battlefield had become a "driver" in pushing Russian innovation in prosthetics.

"We are probably leading in this direction now," she said at an economic forum in the far east city of Vladivostok.

"It is precisely the participants in the Special Military Operation who have allowed us to reach such a priority flagship level," she said, using Russia's term for its military campaign in Ukraine.

Russian government data shows it issued 60,000 more prosthetic limbs in 2024 than in 2021 -- a 65-percent increase.

Tsivilyova has been sanctioned by the United States, European Union and Britain for her role in Russia's offensive on Ukraine.

She is the reported daughter of Putin's first cousin, with London naming her "Putin's first cousin once removed" and the EU listing her as a "close relative" of the Kremlin leader.

Putin said last year around 700,000 Russian troops were fighting in Ukraine.

The BBC and independent outlet Mediazona say they have documented more than 125,000 Russian soldiers killed in the three-and-a-half-year campaign, using open-source data, but say the actual number is likely higher.