Russia has suffered 1.3 million casualties in Ukraine

Russia has suffered around 1.3 million casualties since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including around 400,000 in 2025 alone, a senior NATO official told journalists in a briefing at NATO Headquarters.

Speaking during a background session on “The situation in Ukraine” on 11 February, the official said Moscow was continuing to make incremental gains along several sectors of the front line, but at a staggering human cost.

“Almost 400,000 dead and wounded in 2025 alone,” the official said. “Russian total killed and wounded in the war now is around 1.3 million.”

The official said Russia’s advances remained modest and primarily tactical, driven by attritional tactics, heavy artillery use, and widespread employment of UAVs, but constrained by manpower quality and logistics.

“Their operational effectiveness is constrained by manpower quality, by logistic strain and adaptation by the opposing forces, which have produced localized gains with no decisive battlefield breakthroughs,” the official said.

Despite Russia’s pressure, the official assessed that Ukraine’s front line remained intact.

“Despite Ukrainian limited reserves and thin defences, the total collapse of Ukrainian defences remains unlikely anytime this year,” they said.

The senior NATO official also described Russia’s campaign as the deadliest in Europe since the Second World War.

Moscow continues to sacrifice more men and women than in any European conflict since the Second World War, the official said, while failing to achieve strategic objectives.

They added that Russia was increasingly seeking to portray Ukraine’s defeat as inevitable through an information campaign exaggerating small territorial gains.

“They often list dozens of tiny villages that are captured, portraying them as major victories,” the official said, adding that such claims did not amount to meaningful breakthroughs.