An American intelligence report was unveiled on Tuesday revealing that Russia has lost approximately 315,000 soldiers due to death or injury since the start of its invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago, making Russia’s losses astonishingly higher than what the Kremlin has declared and surpassing Ukrainian losses.
Key Facts
These numbers represent 87% of the Russian forces, which numbered around 360,000 soldiers before the war in February 2022, according to the report presented to parliament members.
Russia has suffered significant blows to its military arsenal since the beginning of the invasion, having lost about 2,200 of its 3,500 battle tanks and two-thirds of its armored vehicles, according to the report.
While the Kremlin has kept its losses in the invasion secret, the American intelligence report paints a grim picture of what two years of ongoing conflict have done to Russian forces.
According to the report, Russia’s losses surpass the number of troops last mentioned by Moscow in November 2022, when the Russian Ministry of Defense reported 5,937 soldier deaths, as reported by Agence France-Presse, although recent reports from American and British officials put that figure much higher.
An American intelligence official told The New York Times in August that Moscow’s losses, including killed and wounded, are approaching 300,000, with about 120,000 deaths and between 170,000 and 180,000 injured (the newspaper noted at that time that Ukrainian forces suffered 70,000 deaths and between 100,000 and 120,000 injuries).
The British Ministry of Defense also stated this week that it estimates Russia has suffered about 50,000 deaths and 240,000 injuries since the start of the war, in addition to around 20,000 deaths among Wagner mercenary forces and 40,000 injuries.
Recent Developments
There has been disagreement among House members regarding additional military aid to Ukraine, with Republican members of the House demanding security measures on the U.S.-Mexico border in exchange for aid, a demand that has kept the aid package stalled for weeks. House Speaker Mike Johnson (Republican Louisiana) told the Biden administration last week that the aid package would be “contingent” on a “dramatic change” in U.S. border policy, considering the border a “disaster” with “record illegal immigration.” Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that Republican members are seeking “clarity on what we are doing in Ukraine” as well as border security measures, although he said earlier he is “confident” that the House will pass an aid package for Ukraine by the end of the year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who canceled his highly anticipated virtual address to the Senate earlier this month, met with President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday afternoon as part of his latest appeal for increased U.S. military spending, despite facing strong opposition from congressional Republicans regarding additional aid for the war-torn country.
Contradiction
White House officials warned House members in a letter last week that the U.S. is “running out of money” and “is close to running out of time” to support Ukraine without an agreement for additional spending. Shalanda Young, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said in the letter that “a disruption in support for Ukraine will negatively impact Ukraine’s ability to resist in the field. By November, the U.S. may have spent around $111 billion on funding Ukraine, including economic and humanitarian aid, in addition to military support.
What to Watch For
It is unclear how many soldiers were killed among the 315,000 mentioned in the report.
Future Reading
Funding running out for Ukraine, says the White House (Forbes)
Speaker Johnson “confident” of passing aid for Israel and Ukraine before 2024 – but hard-right has demands (Forbes)
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Here is a safe tip. Brian Bushard
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