Ukraine war: Russia losing close to 1,000 soldiers every day, UK intelligence says
- Russia’s daily losses on the Ukrainian battlefield have been ticking upwards since 2022, according to UK intelligence
- Russia’s reliance on attritional warfare could come at the expense of its economy and labour market
“Each year has seen a rise in the daily average loss rate from 400 in 2022, to 693 in 2023, to 913 through the first quarter of 2024,” the post continued. “The increase reflects Russia’s ongoing reliance on mass to sustain pressure on Ukrainian front lines.”
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In January, a Ukrainian commander told CNN that Russia was mounting their assaults with “non-stop” human-wave attacks.
“Assault after assault, non-stop. If we kill 40 to 70 of them with drones in a day, the next day they renew their forces and continue to attack,” the commander said.
The ravenous need for more troops meant that Russia has had to tap on inmates to fuel their war effort. In fact, Russia’s military has recruited so many prisoners that it even had to close some of its prisons to “optimise and save money.”
But the narrow focus on cobbling troops together for the war might have long-term implications on Russia’s economy. The Ukraine war has left Russia with a severe labour shortage.
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In December, the Russian Academy of Science’s Institute of Economics said the Russian economy was short of around 5 million workers.
“To date, Russia has highly likely lost over 355,000 personnel killed and wounded during the Ukraine war,” the UK defence ministry said in an intelligence dispatch on March 3.
Representatives for Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.
