In a declassified intelligence report, the United States has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered a severe blow to his military forces, losing nearly 90 percent of his pre-invasion army since the conflict began in February 2022.
According to the report, a substantial portion of Russia’s military losses, totalling 315,000 personnel, was attributed to casualties sustained in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. These losses included both fatalities and injuries, significantly impacting Moscow’s military capabilities.
Notably, the report indicated that Russia’s setbacks extended beyond human casualties, with an assessment stating that the nation’s military modernisation had been set back by 18 years due to losses in personnel and armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian military.
One of the alarming statistics provided by the report was that Russia has lost almost two-thirds of its tank force, with 2,200 out of 3,500 pre-invasion tanks no longer in operation. The severity of these losses shed new light on the extent of setbacks faced by Putin’s forces on the Ukrainian front.
The Russian embassy declined to comment on the report, directing inquiries to the Russian defence ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment. Russian officials had consistently downplayed Western estimates of their military losses, asserting that Ukrainian losses were equally significant.
The report noted that Russia began the conflict with 360,000 personnel but had seen a staggering reduction, with 87 percent of its initial force either killed or injured since the invasion. In response to the immense losses, Russia reportedly relaxed recruitment standards, declaring a partial mobilisation of 300,000 personnel and allowing the enlistment of convicts and older civilians.
Furthermore, the report highlighted the drastic measures taken by Russia to replenish its tank force. Having started the war with 3,100 tanks, the country lost 2,200 of them and resorted to deploying T62 tanks from the 1970s to compensate, leaving only 1,300 tanks on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Ukraine had kept its losses under wraps, treating casualty figures as a state secret. While estimates suggested a significant toll on Ukrainian forces, official figures remained undisclosed.
