Russia's forces in Ukraine lost 6,080 soldiers, 99 tanks and more than 200 artillery systems in a week, according to Kyiv's military, as the more than 23 months of war take their toll on Moscow's and Kyiv's personnel, as well as equipment supplies.
Russia lost a total of 740 fighters over the past 24 hours, Ukraine's armed forces said in an update posted to social media on Sunday. This brings the total number of Russian casualties, by Ukraine's count, to 382,110, an increase of more than 5,000 fighters in the past seven days.
Moscow's troops also lost 88 tanks and 201 artillery systems in the past week, according to daily updates posted by Ukraine.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publish tallies of their own losses. Moscow's Defense Ministry does not provide a running count of Ukraine's reported casualties, but said on Sunday that Kyiv had lost more than 800 troops in the past day. In total, Ukraine has lost more than 14,800 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, and 7887 field artillery systems, Moscow said.
Newsweek could not independently verify either count and has reached out to authorities on both sides for comment via email. The figures, however, are an indication of the grueling cost of almost two years of war for Moscow and Kyiv, with few prospects for an end to the conflict any time soon.
"It is very difficult to determine casualties in an ongoing conflict since both sides will try to keep the data secret and inflate the number of adversary casualties," Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of War Studies at King's College London, U.K., told Newsweek in May 2023.
On December 30, the British Defence Ministry said the average number of Russian casualties sustained each day had risen by almost 300 per day throughout 2023 compared to the previous year.
"The increase in daily averages, as reported by the Ukrainian authorities, almost certainly reflects the degradation of Russia's forces and its transition to a lower quality, high quantity mass army since the 'partial mobilisation' of reservists in September 2022," the U.K. government said.
The increase in daily averages, as reported by the Ukrainian authorities, almost certainly reflects the degradation of Russia’s forces and its transition to a lower quality, high quantity mass army since the ‘partial mobilisation’ of reservists in September 2022. (2/4)
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) December 30, 2023
If Russia's casualty count stays the same throughout 2024, Moscow will have sustained more than 500,000 casualties in the war by 2025, the British Defence Ministry said.
Earlier this week, the BBC's Russian service, along with independent outlet Mediazona, reported that civilian recruits who have joined the Russian military since February 2022 accounted for almost half of Russia's current combat losses. They are often sent into battle with outdated equipment, the two outlets reported.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, told countries gathered in support of Ukraine's military efforts that Russia loses "an average of 400 soldiers in exchange for one square kilometer of land" along the front lines.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
