According to a declassified US intelligence report, the war in Ukraine has cost Russia an estimated 315,000 dead and injured troops, representing nearly 90% of the personnel it had at the start of the conflict, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the intelligence.
The report assessed that Russia’s losses in personnel and armored vehicles have set back its military modernization by 18 years, the source added.
“The scale of losses has forced Russia to take extraordinary measures to sustain its ability to fight. Russia declared a partial mobilization of 300,000 personnel in late 2022, and has relaxed standards to allow recruitment of convicts and older civilians,” the assessment said, according to the source.
The Russian army now has only 1,300 armored vehicles left on the battlefield and is resorting to using T62 tanks from the 1970s, the source noted.
Reuters reports that the recently declassified US report found Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with approximately 360,000 personnel. Since then, the report concluded that around 315,000 Russian troops, roughly 87% of the initial total, have been killed or injured.
The US intelligence source’s assessment of Russian losses is comparable to the one provided by Ukraine’s General Staff. According to this estimate, as of 12 December, Russia lost 340,650 troops in Ukraine.
Russia's estimated losses on day 657 of its full-blown war against Ukraine, as per Ukraine's General Staff pic.twitter.com/A7WbToTq8o
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) December 12, 2023
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