Natasha Lindstaedt
DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - JANUARY 16: Ukrainian soldiers of the 505th marines battalion receive training in trench digging, medical care and drone operations as the war between Russia and Ukraine continue in Kurakhove, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on January 16, 2025. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images)... MoreAnadolu via Getty Images
The war in Ukraine has been costly for Russia. To the British Ministry of Defence estimated a total of one million Russian casualties as of July of this year, including injuries, with the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimating over 250,000 Russian troops have died. Russia has suffered more deaths since February 2022 than all its wars combined since World War II, including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Syria and its first conflict with Ukraine in the Donbas.
Despite these staggering losses, Russia has gained an additional 12% of Ukrainian territory since 2022 (or an additional 29,000 square miles). But this territorial gain has come at an enormous price. At this rate, Russia is losing 10 troops for every square mile gained. Since late 2024, Russia has been so desperate for manpower that it has even turned to foreign fighters, including soldiers from North Korea.
Recruitment has long been a challenge for Russia’s military. New conscripts face appalling conditions, hazing, bullying, poor medical care and nutrition, and are badly trained. To avoid unrest, Moscow avoids drafting troops from major urban areas, and instead relies on poorer remote regions such as Bashkortostan, Chechnya, Yakutzia and Dagestan. As Russia’s approach to military recruitment has always been about the sheer quantity of troops, Russia is now struggling to keep up with the number of men needed to fight a conventional war in Ukraine.
As a result of its failure to win the war in Ukraine through conventional tactics, Russia began using long-range drones attacks in 2022. Since then, drone production has accelerated in Russia, with Moscow able to fire over 1,000 drones and missiles in one night. Russian drones pack a punch, with Politico reporting that drones are used in 60-70% of the attacks that left Ukrainian people killed or wounded.
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