The Kremlin said the figures published on Russian casualties was a result of a hack.

As we have been reporting, pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravada issued a report saying 9,861 Russian soldiers had died.

Alexander Gamov, the journalist, said the story was fake and was deleted after a few minutes.

Gamov provided the explanation for the story, which was picked up by some Western media, on the Kremlin’s daily conference call after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unable to comment on the incident.