Ukraine claims that Russia suffered one of its deadliest days on the battlefield yesterday after losing 1,300 soldiers in the space of just 24 hours.
The latest death toll would take the total number of casualties to over half a million, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence. They said that the Russian army’s total casualties in Ukraine are around 535,660 soldiers.
Alongside the 1,300 military personnel claimed to have died on Sunday, the Russian forces also lost 12 tanks, 15 armored fighting vehicles, 51 artillery systems, and 27 unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
This makes Sunday one of the most catastrophic days for the Russian army, since the start of the war in February 2022. The death toll sits only slightly behind the one-day record of 1,740 losses, recorded on May 12.
The shocking death toll raises questions for Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin circle over the human cost of the Ukrainian war. Dozens of soldiers have repeatedly complained that the Russian military relies on “meat-grinder” tactics – which amounts to using the sheer number of soldiers available in a grinding war of attrition.
The tactic appears to be ramping up. According to the Ukraine ministry’s estimates, Russia has lost nearly the same number of troops in the past three days (3,680) as it did in the first full month of fighting (3,900).
This comes a week after an anonymous NATO official told Ukraine’s European Pravda during a NATO meeting that Russia was suffering “astronomical” losses while attempting to advance in Kharkiv Oblast.
They said: “Russia likely suffered losses of almost 1,000 people a day in May, which is quite an astronomical figure.”
Russian forces have advanced less than 10 kilometers into Ukrainian territory since the Kharkiv offensive was launched on May 10.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence also releases daily estimates of the financial toll of Russia’s invasion. It suggests that the country has wasted a total of £49.3 billion on fighting in Ukraine since February 2022.
Despite the colossal losses, a US Army General suggested last week that the Russian military has grown larger and not dwindled during its war in Ukraine.
US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the House Armed Services Committee: “The army is actually now larger — by 15 percent — than it was when it invaded Ukraine. Russia is on track to command the largest military on the continent.”
He said the bolstered numbers stemmed from Russia raising its conscription age from 27 to 30.
