Russia lost 87 per cent of active-duty troops since Ukraine war: Report

Moscow [Russia] : Russia lost 87 per cent of the total number of active duty ground troops it had before launching its invasion of Ukraine and two-thirds of its pre-invasion tanks, CNN reported quoting a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress.

It reported that Russia entered the war with 360,000 troops, including contract and conscript personnel, of which the country lost 315,000 on the battlefield. 2,200 tanks out of 3,500 have been lost and 4,400 of the 13,600 infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers have also been destroyed, for a loss rate of 32 percent.

“As of late November, Russia lost over a quarter of its pre-invasion stockpiles of ground forces equipment,” the assessment reads. “This has reduced the complexity and scale of Russian offensive operations, which have failed to make major gains in Ukraine since early 2022.”

Despite heavy losses, Russia has been able to keep its war efforts going by relaxing recruitment standards and dipping into Soviet-era stockpiles of older equipment. The assessment found that the war has “sharply set back 15 years of Russian effort to modernise its ground force.”

Other newly declassified intelligence previously said that “Russia seems to believe that a military deadlock through the winter will drain Western support for Ukraine and ultimately give Russia the advantage despite Russian losses and persistent shortages of trained personnel, munitions, and equipment,” according to a National Security Council spokesman, CNN reported.

Before the invasion, Russia had a total standing military of approximately 900,000 active-duty troops, including ground troops, airborne troops, special operations and other uniformed personnel, according to the CIA.

Since the start of the invasion, Russia has announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 1.5 million. The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced several rounds of conscription, including its regular fall conscription cycle on October 1, CNN reported.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden held a meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discussed Ukraine’s self-defence against the Russian offensive, including plans for the coming year.