In the latest toll of those losses since the outbreak of the war last February, Washington revealed, on Thursday, that the casualties of the wars of Russia and Ukraine exceeded 200,000 soldiers.
According to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, he has fallen during the war so far:
- 100,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded.
- Probably 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers.
- 40 thousand Ukrainian civilians.
- Turning 15-30 million Ukrainians into refugees.
Milley’s statements provide the highest US estimate of the number of casualties so far in the conflict that has been going on for nearly 9 months, and come at a time when the conflict between Ukraine and Russia may witness a possible lull during the winter, which, according to experts, may provide an opportunity to sit at the negotiating table.
More suffering than Afghanistan
According to Colin Kahl, the US undersecretary of defense for policy, Russia may have lost half of its tanks and used the majority of its guided weapons in the Ukraine war, which he described as a “tremendous strategic failure” for the Kremlin.
Cal stressed that the losses of Russia’s war in Ukraine amounted to:
- 80 thousand dead and wounded.
- Tens of thousands more casualties since the war began than in Afghanistan.
- It lost half of its military tanks.
- Most of their guided munitions were used.
- Sanctions will make it difficult to rebuild the Russian army to its pre-war level.
Russian and Ukrainian estimates
On September 21, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that his forces had lost about 6,000 soldiers in combat since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
On August 24, the Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that its forces managed to destroy:
- More than 4 thousand Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles, and about 400 planes, including fighters and helicopters.
- Shooting down and destroying 1650 drones.
- The destruction of hundreds of air defense platforms, especially the Javelin and Nlaw models.
- Over 200 US “HIMARS” missiles were shot down over Ukraine.
- 33 American “howitzers” and 5 “Harpoon” anti-tank missile launchers were destroyed.
On the other hand, Kyiv does not explicitly disclose the size of its losses, but officials hint from time to time that it ranges between 50 and 200 soldiers per day, depending on the intensity of the battles and their map, while acknowledging the huge losses incurred to the infrastructure, which exceeded 750 billion dollars, as well as the displacement and resort of millions to neighboring countries.
According to the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Valery Zaluzhny, about 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the war.
As for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, in a statistic it published on Russian losses until October 13, it revealed:
- 63,800 Russian soldiers were killed.
- 268 warplanes, 240 helicopters, and 1,182 drones were shot down.
- The destruction of 2,511 tanks, 16 warships and 5,167 military vehicles.
- Destruction of 1,556 artillery, 357 rocket launchers and 183 air defense systems.
- Destroy other equipment and shoot down 316 cruise missiles.
Refugees and IDPs
There are about 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees currently registered under various protection schemes across Europe, according to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which confirmed that:
- About 6.9 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine, living in harsh conditions.
- Nearly 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees are registered under various protection schemes across Europe, many of them in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Russian weapons and equipment losses
An American intelligence report published by the “New York Times” on October 15, confirmed that Russia’s losses came as follows:
- The Russian army has lost 6000 pieces of equipment since the war.
- He uses ammunition at an irreplaceable rate.
- Western sanctions have damaged the defense and military industry in Moscow.
- Russia has been in short supply of vital supplies of diesel engines, helicopters, aircraft engine parts and its armored tanks since last May.
- Russia is having problems fulfilling its sales to foreign armies.
Logistical and economic losses on both sides
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States has focused its efforts on two fronts: providing Ukraine with significant military aid, and economically harming Russia through extensive sanctions and export controls. Given the sanctions, Russia has become:
Unable to manufacture advanced precision weapons, damaged due to export controls.
Sanctions have frozen Russia’s access to advanced technology.
And the New York Times indicated that in order to bypass the sanctions, Russian intelligence services were ordered to “illegally acquire Western technology and its parts.”
Russia has also turned to countries such as Iran and North Korea for supplies.
The United States imposed sanctions on Iranian companies involved in the manufacture and transportation of drones purchased by Russia for use in Ukraine.
As for Ukraine, it lost:
- It has controlled about 22 percent of its territory since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
- The loss of large areas of its coast.
- Its economy was undermined and some cities turned into wasteland due to Russian bombing.
- The Ukrainian economy will shrink 45 percent in 2022, according to estimates by the Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
You need to rebuild a college after the war that will cost about 750 billion dollars. - The area planted with winter crops in Ukraine has decreased by about 40 percent compared to last year, according to the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine Taras Vysotsky.
Russia’s top 5 military losses
Forbes magazine estimates that Russia has lost about 121,042 pieces of equipment, valued at $16.56 billion, since the beginning of the war, noting that this does not include the missiles used by Russia.
Moscow also incurred 5 military losses, costing more than one billion dollars, as follows:
- The warship “Moskva”, valued at about $750 million.
- An Il-76 aircraft worth $86 million.
- Amphibious assault ship “Saratov” worth $75 million.
- Su-30SM, worth $50 million.
- Su-34, valued at $40 million.
As for the size of the Ukrainian losses, the magazine said that it had not seen them, but a brigadier in the Ukrainian army said that some units of the Ukrainian armed forces incurred losses of up to half of their equipment.
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