Russia has lost a staggering 87 percent of the total number of active-duty ground troops it had prior to launching its invasion of Ukraine and two-thirds of its pre-invasion tanks, a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress told CNN.
Still, despite heavy losses of men and equipment, Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to push forward as the war approaches its two-year anniversary early next year and US officials are warning that Ukraine remains deeply vulnerable. A highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive stagnated through the fall, and US officials believe that Kyiv is unlikely to make any major gains over the coming months.
The assessment, sent to Capitol Hill on Monday, comes as some Republicans have balked at the US providing additional funding for Ukraine and the Biden administration has launched a full-court press to try to get supplemental funding through Congress.
Russia had a total standing military of approximately 900,000 active-duty troops
Of the 360,000 troops that entered Ukraine, including contract and conscript personnel, Russia has lost 315,000 on the battlefield, according to the assessment.
So roughly 87.5% of the initial troops was lost, like the article said so that checks out.
900,000 - 315,000 still means 585,000 troops remaining, and that’s outside the conscription efforts.
Russia has announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 1.5 million.
Still a considerable force, as long as the supply chain is able to back it up.
So, if i must believe this, those 13% left in Ukraine are very capable, very effective troops, able to move over that gigantic front in minutes, seconds even to fill the gaps. They must have some kind of teleportation device. It must be possible, since startrek’s Chekov is Russian after all. He knows how it works.
Or maybe these figures are just pulled out of someone’s ass. Like everything else in this war.
If 45,000 are left in Ukraine and Ukraine is approximately 400 miles wide, that’s still 112 Russian troops per linear mile to push west.
Obviously they aren’t spaced in one line across the country like that, but it gives some perspective on how many are left and how much space they could fill.
Do really really believe that?
If yes then
A) the Russians must have some supertech to hold back the Ukrainian push of the last few months. Just 112 men per mile againsts those columns of Bradley’s and Leopards. Wow.
Or
B) the Ukrainians are truly shit fighters.
I go for C). These figures which are spoon fed to us are bullshit.
Just look at the numbers of the past year or so. If we believe them the Russian army is no more and has been defeated 6 months ago.
But they aren’t. They’re still there.
I can’t even imagine what 300,000 human corpses does to a place. How do you even manage that over a short period and fairly small location?
You build mobile crematoriums.
Russian use of those is contested, but it is an efficient way to deal with a problem like that. There was some media buzz about those things about a year ago or so.
Brutal numbers. Let’s not forget that Russia can’t just move all its troops west, they still need to protect other borders and regions.
I really hope the US passes a proper aid, and even more so that EU gets themselves together and continues support. Infuriating to see that while Ukrainians are fighting for their lives (and unintentionally also for the safety of Europe), the politicians are haggling over fucking pocket change.
The only way Russia can win if the west stops Ukraine’s support, and they grind them up over the next years. This would be a catastrophic strategic failure, and would mean the end of global US/NATO influence, motivating the start of many more annexations (definitely Taiwan as a start).
Yes, for all the people saying “it’s not that many”, this is a huge number. No military campaign can withstand 80% losses. That’s like the losses Napoleon took invading Russia. Or Hitler, invading Russia…
Guys, I’m thinking this invading thing is hard in this part of the world.
There are plenty of people that have had success invading Russia.
On horseback.
From the east.
Mongolia, what’s up? You’ve had a good break, now’s your time to shine again.
What’s part of the reason Russia wants to occupy Ukraine. Its a lot easier to defend - against what enemy Russia thinks it needs to defend itself. Its not like someone is seriously planning to attack a nuclear power.
But how many of the 585,000 are front line troops? I imagine most of them are support staff. It’s like a 3:1 ratio or higher support to front line.
as long as the supply chain is able to back it up.
The amount of heavy lifting this clause is doing cannot b overstated
The thing is, Ukraine has no real possibility of interrupting the supply chain, since it doesn’t have the weapons to do so, or is not allowed to use on Russian soil in case of western weapons. All it can do is himarsing the last few dozens of kilometers around the front.
And Russia can produce or dig up WW2-level shit from storage for a very long time.
Russia hurts its own supply chain because the entire state apparatus functions via corruption at every possible level.
Also Ukraine has absolutely already struck targets on Russian soil with US weapons.
