- Russia has suffered up to to 290,000 casualties in the war against Ukraine, per UK intelligence.
- 50,000-190,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or permanently wounded, said the UK MoD.
- In a desperate bid to replenish its manpower, Moscow is sending injured soldiers back into battle.
Russia has likely suffered up to 290,000 soldiers killed or wounded in the war against Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence reported in an intelligence update.
The Russian casualties include 150,000-190,000 who have been killed or permanently wounded, with the total figure including temporarily wounded — soldiers who could return to the battlefield “in some capacity” — in the region of 240,000-290,000, said the MoD.
The latest figures posted by the Ministry of Defence do not include the Wagner Group nor their prisoner battalions that fought in Bakhmut. The Wagner Group was formerly headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash in August.
Recent fighting in Avdiivka, a city in southeastern Ukraine, has contributed to a 90% increase in Russian soldiers killed or wounded.
Russia has gained marginal ground despite a flurry of attacks but suffered high weaponry and personnel losses.
Russia’s ability to defend held territory and conduct costly assaults is contingent on the number of personnel, per the UK Ministry of Defence.
Russia experts said the mounting losses are unlikely to deter Putin, per The New York Times.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has scaled up recruitment campaigns using financial incentives and introduced a partial mobilization last autumn. Moscow has significantly upped its force footprint in Ukraine through its recruitment efforts.
Insider’s Alia Shoaib previously reported on Russia’s desperate efforts to maintain its force footprint on the front lines, sending injured soldiers back into battle without treating them first.
The move to reinstate injured soldiers amid manpower and equipment shortages had one soldier’s mother describe their treatment “like cows at a slaughterhouse.”
More than half of Russia’s wounded soldiers are reportedly amputees. Approximately 54% of Russian soldiers who were injured in the war and are undergoing treatment have had a limb amputation.
Ukrainian losses
A shocking proportion of Ukrainian soldiers are also amputees. The amputations in Ukraine are reportedly as widespread as in the trenches of World War I, largely due to Russia’s reliance on mines and artillery.
Between 20,000-50,000 Ukrainians are estimated to have undergone amputations since the start of the full-scale invasion, up from several thousand annually.
In August, The New York Times reported that US officials, who spoke anonymously, estimated 70,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive that has seen further heavy losses.
In particular, young newly trained Ukrainian soldiers are dying “by the dozens” every day, a senior sergeant fighting in Donetsk told The BBC in August.
Ukraine is under martial law, banning military-age men from leaving the country. At the start of its summer counteroffensive, a Ukraine recruitment campaign touted the slogan “Bravery conquers fear.” A general mobilization into the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been in place since 2014 when the Donbas war broke out.