Ukraine has lost almost 500,000 troops - Economist

RT
Wed, 27 Nov 2024 17:12 UTC

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Ukrainian soldiers

Vladimir Zelensky previously claimed that only some 31,000 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed.

Up to half a million Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded in the ongoing conflict with Russia, according to new estimates provided by The Economist, which cited leaked intelligence reports, official statements and open sources.

In an article published on Tuesday, the outlet noted that it is difficult to calculate Kiev's actual losses, given that Ukrainian officials and their allies are "reluctant to provide estimates."

Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky claimed in February that only 31,000 troops had been killed since the conflict with Russia escalated in 2022. He refused to reveal how many had been wounded, arguing it would let Moscow know "how many people are left on the battlefield."

However, The Economist noted that according to US officials, Kiev's total casualty figure currently stands at more than 308,000 soldiers. According to the outlet's analysis of other sources, the figure could be closer to half a million troops, of which "at least 60,000-100,000 are believed to have been killed. Perhaps a further 400,000 are too injured to fight on."

The Economist also cited the UALosses website, which tracks and catalogues the names and ages of the dead. According to its data, Ukraine has lost at least 60,435 troops, or more than 0.5% of its pre-war population of men of fighting age.

While the data from UALosses is not comprehensive and not all soldiers' ages are known, The Economist suggested that the actual number of those killed in the fighting is higher and the amount of servicemen who are too injured to fight is even greater.

"Assuming that six to eight Ukrainian soldiers are severely wounded for every one who is killed in battle, nearly one in 20 men of fighting age is dead or too wounded to fight on."

Earlier this year, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine's military losses since February 2022 had reached almost 500,000, without specifying how many had been killed or injured.

According to the latest information from the ministry, Kiev has also lost over 35,000 servicemen since August in its incursion into Russia's Kursk Region.

In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country's personnel losses in the conflict were a fraction of those on the Ukrainian side, suggesting that the ratio of casualties was approximately one to five.

Comment: It is an outrage that hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, whose lives were sacrificed in an avoidable war, be purposefully understated to bolster Biden's and Zelensky's 'impression management'.

Meanwhile, reports tell of alarming numbers of mass desertion:

The Associated Press reported Mass desertion is "starving" the Ukrainian Army and "crippling" Kiev's battle plans, as troops flee in their tens of thousands.

"We have already squeezed the maximum out of our people," an officer with the 72nd Brigade told the American news agency.

The Prosecutor General's office lists more than 100,000 soldiers who have been charged over desertion, nearly half of whom quit this year alone, but the actual number is likely significantly higher - as high as 200,000, one MP told the agency. In some cases, entire units have fled their frontline positions, it was told.

One of the deserters said:

"If there's no end term [to military service], it turns into a prison - it becomes psychologically hard to find reasons to defend this country."

Earlier this year, Kiev adopted sweeping military service reform, hoping it would bolster the rate of mandatory conscription. The US is now reportedly pushing the Ukrainian government to lower the minimum draft age to 18, down from 25.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed a bill into law this week, which waives criminal responsibility for first-time deserters if they volunteer to go back and fight.

In July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that a shortage of manpower was the biggest problem facing the Ukrainian military, after a failed "counteroffensive" conducted against Russia earlier that year.

"Ukrainian units have suffered huge losses in their suicidal attacks. Tens of thousands of casualties. Despite constant raids, the never-ending waves of total mobilization in Ukrainian cities and villages, the current regime is finding that sending reinforcements to the front line becomes increasingly difficult. The country's mobilization reserve is being depleted."

Zelensky has been consistently blaming a shortage of Western-donated weapons for Ukrainian setbacks on the battlefield.

Meanwhile Russian officials have accused him of waging a war "to the last Ukrainian" on behalf of the US.