Russia’s flailing army will continue to haemorrhage troops in Ukraine with more than 1,000 losses a day, intelligence experts have warned.
Vladimir Putin’s army has already suffered 90,000 casualties of soldiers killed or wounded in the bitter war in 2025, with an average of 1,255 losses a day in February.
While that has come down from a record high of 1,570 a day in December, it is still way above the numbers Moscow was losing at the start of the war, which at one point were as low as 172.
A UK Defence Intelligence update said: “The decrease in the recorded rate of casualties, whilst remaining high, likely reflect a decrease in the tempo of Russian operations and assaults.
“Russia’s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1,000 a day in March, with continued dismounted infantry attacks on multiple axes.”
Russia’s total casualty rate for the three-year illegal war is now estimated to be 875,000.
An earlier Defence Intelligence update said Russia’s land forces had been “radically altered by the pressures of carrying out operations in Ukraine”, with its capabilities of carrying out complex operations “reversed by substantial losses”.
It added: “Russia is now reliant on mass over quality to prosecute operations against Ukraine.
“Russia’s personnel casualties … have undermined Russia’s force quality. Most personnel serving in the Russian military have received minimal training, and Russian commanders use basic tactics to make advances, despite the associated high casualty rates.”
Yet it warned that Moscow has continued to advance through Ukraine, even if at a slow pace, because it has a much greater number of available soldiers.
“Despite the costs imposed on its land forces, the Russian forces have been able to impose constant pressure on Ukrainian defences,” said the update.
“Continued attacks have been underpinned by the Russian leadership’s tolerance for casualties, and Russia’s land forces’ quantitative overmatch relative to the Ukrainian armed forces.”
