The Russian Paralympic Committee has signed a cooperation deal with the Unified Gambling Regulator to support wounded solidiers ©ERAI

The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) has pledged to help rehabilitate soldiers that have suffered severe injuries in the Ukraine war to participate insport after striking a deal with a gambling regulator.

According to estimates in the United States, more than 200,000 Russian military personnel have been either killed or wounded in battle since the country’s Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine 12 months ago.

The United Nations has reported that the number of Ukrainian civilian casualties has exceeded 21,000, with at least 8,000 dead, and nearly 13,300 injured, but it is feared that the true figure is substantially higher.

A cooperation deal was signed between the Unified Gambling Regulator (ERAI), the Healthy Fatherland movement and the RPC at the "We are together. Sport" forum held in Russian capital Moscow.

The agreement is set to see the organisations create a project to support the rehabilitation and social adaptation of wounded soldiers.

The initiative is expected to be financed by betting companies with the assistance of ERAI, according to the regulator’s Telegram channel.

As many as 200,000 Russian troops may have been killed so far in the war with Ukraine, it is claimed ©Getty Images
As many as 200,000 Russian troops may have been killed so far in the war with Ukraine, it is claimed ©Getty Images

RPC President Pavel Rozhkov attended the event to sign the memorandum of cooperation.

"Thanks to the agreement, we will be able to actively cooperate between organizations to support military personnel who received disabilities during a special military operation, their rehabilitation and social adaptation by means of adaptive physical culture and sports," Rozhkov told Russia’s official state news agency TASS.

"The life stories and outstanding achievements of Russian Paralympic athletes eloquently testify to the effectiveness and relevance of this work."

According to TASS, Russia’s Deputy Sports Minister Odes Baisultanov said that the country’s sporting governing bodies would allocated funds to “regions of Russia” impacted by the war.

The ERAI revealed that its monitoring system processed more than 5.5 million gambling sites, resulting in over 20,000 thousands being clocked with illegal activities in organising and conducting gambling lotteries.

The regulator also reported that it had collected and distributed RUB13.8 billion (£153 million/$183 million/€173 million) for the development of Russian sports and had reached 123 agreements with sporting organisations.

Earlier this week, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin has pledged to allocate RUB520 million (£5.7 million/$6.9 million/€6.5 million) for restoration of 24 sports facilities in annexed regions of Ukraine.