According to kyiv, Russian forces fighting in Ukraine in 2024 have suffered the same number of casualties since the start of Vladimir Putin’s large-scale invasion.
Ukraine’s New Year’s casualty count, which includes dead and wounded, indicates that in the past 12 months Russia has lost 430,790 soldiers.
This is a abundant jump from the estimated quarter of a million casualties in Kyiv, to Kyiv, that Russia faced in 2023. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
The war unleashed by Vladimir Putin will enter its fourth year on February 24 and, although his forces are gradually advancing in eastern Ukraine, it is accompanied by a high level of personnel.
This has an economic impact due to the compensation for families of casualties, high wages required to entice new troops and the worker shortage it exacerbates It could be a factor to bring Russia to the table for negotiations as Donald Trump enters the White House with a pledge to end the war quickly.
It is difficult to obtain an exact figure for the war’s casualties, as kyiv’s estimates are higher than those of other resources and both sides are silent about their losses.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that Russia had lost 790,800 infantry soldiers in the war. Last year, at the same time, the death toll amounted to 360,010, which means that in the last 12 months the number of Russian servicemen killed or wounded amounted to 430,790.
For comparison, total Russian losses in kyiv in 2023 were 253,290, while in the period between the start of the war on February 24, 2022 and January 1, 2023, there were 106,720 losses.
By contrast, in December, Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky said that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war and that 370,000 injuries had been reported although this included troops injured more than once. Newsweek is unable to verify either side’s casualty figures. The Ukrainian president also claimed that 198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and 550,000 wounded.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) compared Russian troop losses with its territorial gains, estimating that last year Moscow suffered about 102 casualties for every square kilometer of Ukrainian territory conquered.
This was based on a lower number of Russian casualties of 420,000 which was divided the 4,168 square kilometers (1,609 square miles) of territory that geolocated evidence showed Moscow had gained, largely consisting of fields and small settlements in Ukraine and Kursk Oblast.
The Washington D. C. -based think tank had previously reported that the intensification of Russian offensive operations between September and November had allowed Moscow to gain 2,356 square kilometers (909 square miles), or 56. 5% of the year’s total territorial gains, in exchange for some 125,800 casualties.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported that Russian casualties averaged 1,585 per day in December, while Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on December 30 that Russia had lost 1,700 soldiers in the last week alone, most commonly in the Donetsk region. .
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi: “The enemy continues to launch non-stop meat attacks and suffer record losses. “
Institute for the Study of War on Dec. 31: “Russian forces gained 4,168 square kilometers, most commonly camps and small settlements in Ukraine and Kursk Oblast, with a reported burden of more than 420,000 casualties in 2024.
By 2025, Russia has battlefield momentum and will most probably continue to suffer meaningful body of workers losses as it continues operations to capture Chasiv Yar in Donetsk, amid announced plans for a push extra south in Zaporizhzhia.
However, Russia appears to be recruiting enough troops to offset those losses: Russian Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev said on December 24 that 440,000 recruits had signed military service contracts by 2024.
The ISW said this suggests Russia is recruiting enough military personnel to update its recently peak one-to-one casualty rate.
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular the war started by Moscow. He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English, knows Russian and French. You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing [email protected] or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.