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Vladimir Putin has ordered almost a quarter of a million certificates for Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine.

Some 230,000 certificates have been made for the families of dead soldiers, according to a tender by the Russian government, reported Verstka media outlet.

This gives the closest indication of how many Russian soldiers have been killed, as the Kremlin only publicly acknowledges the deaths of 6,000.

The certificates are distributed to widows and the children of soldiers.

Another 757,305 certificates were ordered for surviving ‘combat veterans’, putting the total figure of Russian soldiers deployed at nearly one million.

‘The numbers may indirectly indicate the approximate scale of the Russian group participating in the battles and losses,’ stated Verstka.

Ukraine claims more than 270,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the war.

At a state awards ceremony in August, Putin was seen with Angelina Ivanov, widow of slain Colonel Denis Ivanov, 41, and the couple’s two children.

He also met the widow of slain Guard Captain Roman Vorobyov.

Ukraine has claimed this week that more than 270,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in a war triggered by Putin’s desire to invade his neighbouring country.

Two independent media outlets have carried out in-depth research and found the number of men to have died in the conflict is in fact around the 50,000 mark.

Kremlin officials have continually tried to ‘unsuccessfully hide’ the death count, according to experts analysing the data.

Mediazona and Meduza have worked together with a data scientist from Germany’s Tubingen University to identify a more realistic reflection of the lives lost.

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