"Wall Street Journal"

Russia and Ukraine lost 1 million soldiers

Tens of thousands of soldiers have already had to be buried.

(Bild: AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)

According to research by the US newspaper "Wall Street Journal", hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been injured or killed on both sides in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In total, the million mark has already been exceeded.

The Ukrainian troops have suffered around 80,000 dead and 400,000 wounded soldiers, the paper reported, citing a confidential Ukrainian estimate. According to estimates by Western intelligence services, Russia had lost as many as 600,000 soldiers - 200,000 dead and 400,000 wounded.

Neither Kiev nor Moscow have provided any official information on their own losses. However, the newspaper's figures are in line with estimates from the British Ministry of Defense regarding Moscow's losses in the war.

Russian recruits as cannon fodder
According to these estimates, 610,000 Russian soldiers have died or been so badly wounded since the start of the war that they are no longer fit for action. "Tactics based on massive infantry waves have forced Russia to replenish its frontline forces with a constant stream of new recruits," the ministry announced on Platform X. Accordingly, Moscow is now finding it more difficult to recruit volunteers.

The high blood toll paid by the two warring parties also has fatal long-term consequences. Even before the outbreak of the armed conflict, Russia and Ukraine were struggling with shrinking populations. For Ukraine, whose population is only around a quarter of Russia's, the problem is existential, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Mass exodus multiplies the problem
While Russia could at least partially make up for the losses on the front by occupying Ukrainian territories and absorbing the population living there, Kiev would also have to cope with a mass exodus abroad.

The number of civilian casualties has not been included in the calculation anyway. According to human rights activists, thousands of people have been killed by the systematic shelling of cities and communities on the Ukrainian side in particular.