Russia’s casualty rate in the Ukraine war just reached a new monthly high, according to UK intelligence.
While Vladimir Putin’s troops are progressing on the frontline at their fastest pace since the invasion began in 2022, it appears to be coming at a significant cost.
In its latest update on X (formerly Twitter), the UK’s ministry of defence said: “The average daily Russian casualties (killed and wounded) in the Russia-Ukraine conflict reached a new monthly war high during November 2024.”
It noted that Ukrainian General Staff believe Putin’s army faced an average daily loss rate of 1,523 last month.
The MoD noted: “This is the third straight month that Russian Forces have sustained new war high average daily losses.”
The UK intelligence added that Russia lost 2,030 troops in a single day for the first time on November 28, which is “the first time more than 2,000 have been reported”.
Last month was “likely the most costly month of the war for Russia with a total of 45,680 casualties,” too.
That’s an increase from October’s numbers where the Russian forces suffered 41,980 casualties, and the fifth consecutive month Putin’s troops have seen an uptick in monthly total losses.
The MoD also looked at how losses have increased, year-on-year.
In 2022, when the war began, the average daily losses ranged from 172 to 559. This year, it ranged from 846 to November’s 1,523 rate.
The UK intelligence officers added: “The high rate of casualties is likely reflective of the higher tempo of Russian operations and offensives.”
“Russia is attempting to increase the pressure on Ukrainian lines as they seek to push Ukrainian Forces back on several fronts,” the MoD said, including in the Russian region Kursk.
The intelligence officers also predicted: “Russia’s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1,000 a day in December 2024 despite the onset of winter, with continued dismounted infantry attacks on multiple axes.”
Overall, Russia is believed to have suffered more than 700,000 casualties since starting the war in February 2022.
Prime minister Keir Starmer also used his first speech to the United Nations security council in New York in October to accuse the Russian president of treating his own citizens as “bits of meat to fling into the meat grinder”.
