British intelligence: Russia's losses have reached 1.5 million troops

Russia has lost around 1.5 million military personnel killed and wounded since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, of whom approximately 500,000 have been killed. This assessment has been provided by British military intelligence.

The statement was made by the Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, Sky News reports.

According to Knighton, the total Russian losses since February 2022 are estimated at around 1.5 million troops. Around a third of them—about half a million people—have been killed.

Furthermore, the vast majority of the losses have occurred since January 2023. During this period, according to British military leadership, Russia has been able to capture only an additional approximately 2% of Ukraine's territory.

Knighton said the ratio of losses to territorial gains demonstrates the price Russia is paying for continuing the war.

“That is half a million photographs on the walls of empty and darkened homes across Russia. Half a million families will never see their father, son, brother, or husband again,” said the head of the British armed forces.

He also highlighted the length of the war. More than 1,660 days have passed since the start of the full-scale invasion – the Russian army has been fighting against Ukraine for longer than the Soviet Union participated separately in the First and Second World Wars.

According to Knighton, the war is also increasingly affecting the Russian economy. Among the consequences he cited were a slowdown in economic growth, weakening consumer demand, and persistently high inflation.

At the same time, Western officials who spoke to Sky News see no sign that the scale of the losses or the deterioration of the economic situation has prompted Vladimir Putin to abandon his goals in Ukraine.

The estimate of around 500,000 Russian military personnel killed has previously been voiced by British intelligence. At the end of May, the head of the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), Anne Keast-Butler, said new intelligence indicated almost half a million Russian soldiers killed. Thus, the main new figure in the current assessment by the British military leadership is Russia's total losses – around 1.5 million killed and wounded.

By comparison, the Ukrainian General Staff reported on 9 September that the total combat losses of Russian forces since the start of the full-scale invasion exceeded 1.5 million people. Ukrainian statistics do not break this figure down into killed and wounded.

Moscow does not publish up-to-date complete statistics on military losses. It is impossible to independently verify the exact number of dead and wounded in an ongoing war, so the estimates of Ukraine, Western intelligence services, and independent researchers vary.

Based on materials from: Sky News, UK government