Russia’s losses of one million soldiers in Ukraine are credible, experts say ...Middle East

Russian combat losses during the war in Ukraine passed one million on Thursday, according to the latest estimate from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.

“We have neutralised as many enemies as 66 conventional wars in Afghanistan,” the military stated in a social media post announcing the data, referring to the Soviet-Afghan war that lasted a decade and contributed to the collapse of the USSR.

The figure includes 250,000 deaths with the remaining casualties wounded.

Volodymyr Zelensky marked the milestone with an attack on the Russian regime.

“Today, in year four of Russia’s full-scale war, our military has recorded over one million Russian casualties — killed and wounded,” he said. “That’s the price Putin is willing to pay for his sick geopolitical fantasies. And still, he refuses to end this war.”

After more than three years of full-scale war since the invasion of February 2022, Russia currently controls about 20 per cent of Ukraine, and continues to make grinding progress at a staggering cost.

While Ukraine’s data cannot be independently verified – and is acknowledged to be an estimate – conflict researchers suggest the figures are likely to be accurate.

Recent research from Washington-based think tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), found that Russia would “likely hit the one million casualty mark in the summer of 2025,” calling it “a stunning and grisly milestone.”

“Russian fatalities and casualties have been extraordinary,” the CIS research authors, Seth Jones and Riley McCabe.

Russia has suffered nearly five times as many fatalities in Ukraine as in all of its wars combined between the end of World War II and the start of the full-scale invasion, the authors noted.

Russian independent outlet Mediazona and BBC Russia have produced some of the most detailed casualty estimates of the war, based on public records, court documents, local news reports, and social media posts by family members.

So far, they have verified more than 111,000 deaths but acknowledge the true figure to be higher as they exclude soldiers from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and wounded servicemen.

Mediazona editor Mika Golubovsky said Ukraine’s estimates are credible.

“We have a huge backlog of about, like, 10,000 names that still await confirmation. And it doesn’t seem to end,” he said.

The British defence ministry echoed Ukraine’s claim on Thursday. “This is the devastating human cost Putin is inflicting on his own people,” the ministry said.

Casualties on the Ukrainian side are also high, but significantly lower, according to CIS, which estimates the total to be nearly 400,000.

Ukraine, like Russia, rarely offers data on its own casualties.

The eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut saw some of the heaviest fighting in the war, which resulted in significant casualties on both sides (Photo: Ukrainian Armed Forces/Reuters)

Russia shows ‘disregard for own soldiers’

The CIS authors said the heavy casualties show “Putin’s blatant disregard for his soldiers”.

Moscow has embraced “meat-grinding” attacks—where forces are thrown into intense battles to wear down the enemy, often at great human cost, said Mike Spagat, a conflict researcher and chair of the non-profit Every Casualty Counts.

Russian forces have employed such tactics in battles for the eastern city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former chief of the Wagner private military group, which led the assault, had claimed that the city was captured after “224 days of fighting” for the loss of 20,00 soldiers.

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Similar tactics were practiced in the drawn-out capture of Avdiivka, also in Donetsk, and in ongoing attritional battles on the eastern front.

Mika Golubovsky further cites complaints that some Russian units didn’t receive proper training before being thrown into battle, leaving them vulnerable.

The Russian military appears determined to maintain its bloody approach to warfare despite the astonishing losses

“The number of current deaths doesn’t really drop,” he said, adding that Russian commanders “are ready to continue this horrific pace.”

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