The Russian army in Ukraine is facing a sharp spike in killed and missing personnel. This significantly reduces Moscow's chances of achieving the large-scale battlefield breakthrough sought by Vladimir Putin.
As reported by "Hvylya", citing the Financial Times based on information from European and Ukrainian officials.
The surge in casualties is making it increasingly difficult for Russian forces to sustain grueling offensive operations. Analysts note that in some sectors, the pace of advancement has dropped below rates seen during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Lucrative financial incentives are no longer sufficient to attract enough volunteers. Consequently, Moscow is being forced to recruit more criminal defendants, pressure conscripts into signing contracts, and redeploy wounded soldiers.
According to the Frontelligence Insight analytical group, desertion rates have reached their highest level since the war began nearly four years ago.
"Putin's bet was that constant pressure across a broad front would eventually lead to the collapse of the Ukrainian side. But the way Russian troops are fighting simply will not lead to operationally significant breakthroughs," stated Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that while Russia is meeting its recruitment target of approximately 35,000 personnel per month, up to 90% of recruits in 2025 were deployed solely to replace casualties.
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that at least 325,000 Russian soldiers have died since the start of the invasion. This figure exceeds the combined death toll of all Russian and Soviet wars since World War II by a factor of five. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that Russia is losing between 30,000 and 35,000 men killed and severely wounded every month.
"If this continues, they will lose 100,000-120,000 of their troops on the front line in just a few months. And it won't be easy for them to fill this gap," Zelensky emphasized.
Instead of mechanized assaults, Russian forces are increasingly relying on infantry and light motorized attacks. Kofman noted that Moscow is effectively "trading previous equipment losses for much higher personnel attrition."
The economic burden is also mounting. Regional budgets are straining under the weight of contract signing bonuses. In the Khanty-Mansiysk region, total payments have reached 4.1 million rubles ($53,000). Expert Janis Kluge estimates that signing bonuses alone now account for approximately 0.5% of Russia's GDP.
According to the publication The Bell, men from impoverished regions such as Buryatia and Tuva are dying in Ukraine at a rate 25 times higher than residents of Moscow.
