A recently declassified US intelligence report, obtained by Reuters, has disclosed that the ongoing war in Ukraine has taken a heavy toll on Russia, resulting in 315,000 dead and injured soldiers – equivalent to 87 percent of its 360,000 initial personnel when it began the full-scale phase of its war in February 2022.
These substantial losses prompted Russia to relax recruitment standards for Ukrainian deployment, including a partial mobilization of 300,000 personnel in late 2022, allowing the enlistment of convicts and older civilians.
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While the Russian embassy, when Reuters asked for comment, deferred to the defense ministry in Moscow, which remained silent on the matter, Russian officials consistently argue that Western estimates exaggerate Russian casualties and downplay Ukrainian losses.
The report also highlighted that losses in personnel and armored vehicles have pushed back its military modernization efforts by 18 years.
According to the assessment, the Russian army began the war with 3,100 tanks, lost 2,200 of them, and had to compensate with outdated T62 tanks from the 1970s.
This has left Russia with only 1,300 tanks on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Kyiv has kept its losses confidential, considering them a state secret to protect its war effort.
Although a New York Times report in August suggested a Ukrainian death toll of close to 70,000, Ukrainian historians Yaroslav Tynchenko and Herman Shapovalenko revealed that their Book of Memory project confirmed 24,500 Ukrainian combat and non-combat deaths using open sources, with the actual figure likely higher.
ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November, 13, 2024
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