The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) has released an intelligence update detailing a significant increase in Russian casualties during 2024, with December proving to be the most costly month of the war to date.
According to the update, “Russian forces sustained 429,660 casualties (killed and wounded) in the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2024, a notable increase on the 252,940 casualties sustained in 2023, according to Ukrainian General Staff reporting.”
This brings the estimated total of Russian casualties since the start of the conflict to over 790,000.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 7 January 2025.
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— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) January 7, 2025
December 2024 was highlighted as the deadliest month of the war for Russian forces, with “a total of 48,670 casualties reported by the Ukrainian General Staff.” This marks an increase from the 45,680 casualties recorded in November 2024 and represents the sixth consecutive month of rising monthly losses for Russia.
The report noted that December also saw record-high daily loss rates for Russian forces. The MOD stated, “The average daily Russian casualties reached a new monthly war high during December 2024. The average daily loss rate was 1,570, the fifth straight month that Russian Forces have sustained new war high average daily losses.”
The single deadliest day for Russian forces occurred on 19 December 2024, with “a new war high of 2,200 losses in a single day.”
Looking ahead, the MOD warned that “Russia will highly likely continue to experience high casualty rates over January 2025 with continued dismounted infantry attacks on multiple axes.”
The intelligence update paints a grim picture for Russian forces, with the sharp rise in casualties underscoring the intensifying cost of the war. The continuation of high casualty rates is expected as Russian forces persist with resource-intensive infantry tactics across multiple fronts.
That’s a whole lot of tragedy and loss for one man’s ambitions. The really interesting part is also the age demographics, with the average age of Russian casualties at around 38, means a lot of these casualties are men in their 40s and 50s. Russia only has a healthy life expectancy of 58, so these people are not your idea solders, but from a strategic point of view these men probably have had their children and will have very little economic life left in them and so would have little future impact on the nation. To put it bluntly they are probably the most disposable part of the Russia population.
They also avoid paying them their pensions, although I assume there is some sort of widow payment. I’d say the costs would be greater despite them being more disposable because of the injuries and constant care many will need for the rest of their days, I would guess for every death there are 5 injured, many will be grievous injuries.
In reality it’s not a very high cost to Russia. Its population over 60 is essentially dead on its feet anyway and it has a massive number of hospital beds, but care is pretty none existent in a western sense, spending is about 900 dollars per person.. but the state only pays around 450 dollars a person…essentially they have vast numbers of care beds in which they just put people to bed to die out of sight.
Why is there an expectation that these dreadful losses of life to those in the Russian military and now also the North Koreans as none of the criticism have nor will affect the Putin and Kim Jon Ung dictatorships.
The loss of lives mean absolutuely zilch to them.
The citizens of both those nations are being led by the nose and doing nothing to help themselves.
To overhtrow either regime will be very costly in deaths but is that any worse of what is occuring for the hubris of brutal psycopathic individuals that insist that their hold on power demands others to die.
Quite a few observers are saying that 2025 will be the last year that Russia will be able to sustain this casualty rate.
The problem is, UKR will have to survive another year of war (can it?)
Classically the term ‘casualty’ includes the missing. I wonder how many Russian troops are missing?