The UK Ministry of Defence has assessed that Russia has likely sustained approximately 1,140,000 casualties, both killed and wounded, since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Around 353,000 of those losses have occurred so far in 2025, according to a Defence Intelligence update published on 4 November.

The update, which draws on Ukrainian General Staff reporting, recorded an average of 1,008 Russian casualties per day during October, an increase from 950 in September and the second consecutive monthly rise. Despite this upward trend, analysts said “Russia’s average daily casualty rates for the months August 2025 through to October 2025 are the three lowest monthly average rates reported since April 2024.”

While casualty rates have slowed compared to the extreme losses of earlier phases of the war, Defence Intelligence said Moscow is continuing to push heavily on the Donbas front. Russian forces are “continuing intensive efforts to envelop Pokrovsk, the key Ukrainian logistics hub which supports operations in the Donbas, sustaining heavy casualties.”

The report noted that Russian troops had “advanced from the southern outskirts towards the centre of the city” and are maintaining pressure on Rodynske and Myrnohrad, towns that support Pokrovsk’s defensive line to the north and east. Ukrainian forces have carried out “limited counterattacks in the vicinity of Dobropillia, 25 kilometres north of Pokrovsk,” according to the intelligence summary.

Pokrovsk, a major supply and transport hub for Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region, has become one of the most contested points on the front line. The update stated that “Pokrovsk likely remains Russia’s priority axis, with the city continuing to sustain the largest proportion of daily Russian assaults relative to the rest of the frontline.”

George Allison
George Allison
George Allison is the founder and editor of the UK Defence Journal. He holds a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and specialises in naval and cyber security topics. George has appeared on national radio and television to provide commentary on defence and security issues. Twitter: @geoallison
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9 COMMENTS

  1. That is simply an insane number.. and the reality is they have got almost no distance at all… what a profoundly sad waste of life…

    It’s all the more insane when you thing Russia started the Ukraine war with around 250,000 contract soldiers.. about 160,000 true regulars and the rest 1-2 year contracts that were essentially national service draftees that signed a short contract so they got better conditions and treatment.

    • Agreed, the number of Russian casualties vs. territorial gains is largely incomprehensible from a modern Western perspective. But is that the case from the Russian viewpoint? Remember, the Russians suffered approximately 1.1Mn casualties during the Siege of Stalingrad, merely one campaign in a war that caused an estimated 24-27Mn Soviet casualties (military and civilian). Not certain Russian public has access to reliable data, and even if available, the public’s overall perspective re the war? 🤔

  2. Good job Ukraine

    But the overall picture is that Russia is slowly gaining territory, albeit at a very high cost

    Russia’s battlefield tactics are poor, but their strength is in the ability to keep the war going, continually attacking on many fronts.

    NATO take note, this is a long war of attrition we would be fighting if we took on Russia and its allies.
    Our industries and economies and the general publics will to sustain a long fight would need to be equally as strong as our armed forces

      • Hopefully

        But it is a big country with a lot of resources, and it has survived war damage and international sanctions to date.

    • One thing that Ukraine had going for it at the outset was the incredible network of entrenchments it had built up, in some areas, following the 2014 troubles with Russia. Do we know how deep fortifications currently go in NATO countries that are likely to be on the frontlines. If war is certain, as many suggest, it’d be better for them to get these dug now with the assistance of civilian contractors before that is no longer a possibility.

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