More Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine in a year than the losses since WWII, a think tank claims
More Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine in a year than in all 16 military actions since World War II, the think tank claims.
- Russian troops are dying five times faster than Ukrainians, a total of 70,000
- Elite regiments were supplemented by reluctant recruits with little training
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The total number of Russian dead in Ukraine is likely to exceed all fatalities in 16 of the country’s military actions since World War II, it is claimed.
The number of soldiers killed per month in the first year of the war was 25 times higher than in Chechnya and 35 times higher than in the Soviet Union’s decade-long war in Afghanistan, a US think tank said.
Russian troops are believed to be dying five times faster than Ukrainians, about 70,000 in total.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said Russia suffered between 13,000 and 25,000 deaths in the two Chechen wars.
Elite regiments, now supplemented by unwilling recruits with little training and poor equipment, were among those killed in the first attack on Ukraine last February.
Russian troops are thought to be dying five times faster than Ukrainians (Image: A Ukrainian soldier carries a mortar round before firing at Russian troops)
Soldiers are outraged by their commanders’ tactics, such as being ordered at gunpoint to attack across open ground (photo: a Ukrainian MSLR BM-21 ‘Grad’)
Reports this week claim Russian teenage boys now have the same life expectancy as those in Haiti.
It comes as more reports came out yesterday of mutinies among Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
Soldiers are enraged by their commanders’ tactics, such as being ordered at gunpoint to attack across open ground. A video on the social media channel Telegram showed Russian troops refusing to do so. One of them said, ‘You can imprison us. How long is it? Five, seven, ten years? Fight yourself. But for what? For whom? Life is more important.’
At least six Ukrainian civilians were killed and more injured as Russia launched 81 airstrikes yesterday.
The attack temporarily interrupted power to the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, raising new fears of catastrophe.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has rejected claims by the Kremlin that it attempted to assassinate officials in Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region. The pro-Russian enclave said Ukrainian agents were planning to detonate a car bomb. Ukraine denied planning an attack.
Last month, pro-Western Moldovan president Maia Sandu accused Moscow of plotting to overthrow her.
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