Russian military casualties in the war in Ukraine are expected to reach a million before the end of June. This figure, which is composed of combat-related injuries as well as deaths, reveals that Moscow is prepared to see its soldiers to pay a staggeringly high price for Russia to maintain and expand its illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory.
The scale of losses since the full-scale invasion in 2022 is a direct result of Russia’s “meat grinder” approach to fighting, which relies on sending waves of troops into enemy fire, sacrificing many so that a few can get through. Vladimir Putin’s strategy has allowed Russian forces to make steady – but painfully slow – advances into eastern Ukraine, but at an estimated cost of 53 casualties per square kilometre seized.
Russia is now changing the way it is fighting in Ukraine because of the high casualty rates. It is now using small, dispersed detachments because of the loss of large numbers of junior officers. Although replacements are being recruited from the ranks and quickly put through an abbreviated training, these new officers have neither the training nor the experience to command larger formations of soldiers.
