Russia has suffered more losses since the start of the year than in 2022 and 2023 combined

As of November 16, 2024, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces estimates that 719,240 Russian fighters have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the launch of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. While this figure seems high, it reflects the trend identified by the various independent and government estimates carried out over the last two years.

• On Tuesday September 17, the British Ministry of Defense placed the number of Russian casualties at 610,000 since the start of the war. The same day, the General Staff of the Ukrainian army estimated in its daily report the total Russian losses at 635,880.
• According to confidential sources cited by the Wall Street Journal in September, the number of Russian and Ukrainian wounded and dead would have exceeded one million since February 2022 .

The evolution of the rate of Russian losses since 2022 is almost linear: from 9,840 losses per month on average during the first year of invasion, this figure increased to 21,106 last year. Since the start of 2024 (over the period January-October), the Russian army has lost around 32,382 fighters per month (wounded and dead combined).

According to Ukrainian figures, Moscow has lost more fighters in Ukraine since the start of 2024 than in the previous two years.

• The Russian army would have lost 105,960 soldiers in the first year, 253,270 in 2023 and 360,010 since the start of 2024. .
• On November 12, 1,950 Russian fighters were reported killed or wounded on Ukrainian soil — the highest figure since the launch of the invasion.
• British military intelligence also noted, independently of kyiv, a significant increase in the number of Russian losses: 1,500 soldiers were killed or wounded on average per day in October. .

According to United Nations data, Russia has 37.7 million men aged 20 to 59, and could continue to sustain a high rate of losses for several years.

In order to encourage more volunteers to sign a contract with the army to fight in Ukraine – thus avoiding a new wave of mobilization which would be very unpopular – Moscow doubled the federal amount of the signing bonus at the end of July, from 195 000 to 400,000 rubles (i.e. approximately €1,850 to €3,800) — to which are then added regional and municipal bonuses, etc. for a national average of approximately 1 million rubles (€9,500) .