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Three years after Russian President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow's losses are high and continue to increase daily, according to Ukrainian estimates.
Newsweek has contacted the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The personnel losses Russia and Ukraine have experienced since the war began are expected to affect their demographic and economic futures as Moscow and Kyiv face crises related to declining birth rates.
What To Know
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Moscow has since lost 868,320 soldiers, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced on Monday. In comparison, estimates of Ukraine's losses are a fraction of Moscow's.
However, it is difficult to assess the true circumstances of Russia's losses as the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's estimates are often higher than other sources, and both sides are tight-lipped about their losses.
While Ukraine regularly reports Moscow's losses, it does not often report its own, and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation similarly does not often report Kyiv's losses.
As the war progressed, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense also changed the way it recorded Russia's losses, shifting from reporting the number of soldiers killed to reporting those killed and wounded.
As a result of its casualties, Russia has struggled with a personnel shortage amid its large-scale assaults, having difficulty replenishing its ranks with adequately trained personnel.
In December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had lost 43,000 military personnel since the war began, with 370,000 cases of soldiers being injured and about 50 percent of those wounded later returning to service.
In an interview with U.K. journalist Piers Morgan on February 4, Zelensky said Ukraine had lost 45,000 soldiers and that about 390,000 soldiers had been injured since 2022.
Many consider the Ukrainian presidents' statements about Kyiv's losses to be an underestimation, speculating that they are much higher.
The Wall Street Journal reported on a confidential Ukrainian assessment in 2024, which placed Ukrainian troop losses at 80,000 killed and 400,000 wounded.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also reported on Monday that Russia had lost 10,177 tanks, 21,157 armored fighting vehicles, 23,626 artillery systems, 1,299 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,081 air defense systems, 26,645 UAVs, 38,444 vehicles and fuel tanks, 370 aircraft, and more since 2022.
Moscow's extensive equipment losses have resulted in Putin grinding down Soviet-era stockpiles.
While information about Ukraine's equipment losses is not published often, Oryx, a website that documents military equipment losses, estimated that Kyiv had lost 7,910 pieces of equipment in total—of which 5,711 had been destroyed, 557 had been damaged, 437 had been abandoned and 1,205 had been captured.
What People Are Saying
Rustem Umerov, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday: "Eleven years of war. Three years of full-scale invasion. Each of us remembers February 24, 2022. Ukraine has not only endured but has grown stronger. russia planned to break us in 72 hours. But today, it is russia that is suffering catastrophic losses. Ukrainian warriors fight for every meter of our land. Thousands of volunteers have joined the Defense Forces. The whole country is working towards Victory—rescuers, energy workers, volunteers, entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, workers, and educators. Together, we have shown the world our strength."
The X account @KilledInUkraine, which tracks the Russian officers killed in the war, wrote on Sunday: "At least 5,596 Russian officers have been eliminated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine since 24 February 2022. Weekly update: +34 newly registered. Source: public Russian obituaries and graves."
Igor Sushko, a Ukrainian writer, wrote on X on Saturday: "Russia: Propaganda inadvertently exposed scale of casualties. 252 soldiers from Stary Oskol killed in Ukraine, compared to 11 killed in Afghanistan. Total Russian KIA in Afghanistan: 15,000. Equates to around 350,000 Russian soldiers killed in the invasion of Ukraine so far."
What Happens Next
Given the challenges of independently verifying the reported losses of either country, it is hard to construct the true picture of their total losses.
Though U.S.-mediated peace deals are underway, Russia's and Ukraine's losses could continue to increase as the war escalates.
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About the writer
Maya Mehrara is a News Reporter at Newsweek based in London, U.K.. Her focus is reporting on international news. She ... Read more