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Russia Suffers 1,000 Troop Losses in Single Day— Is Putin Running Out of Troops?
Ukraine’s defence forces continue to inflict losses on Russia. Russia has lost 1,140 soldiers, 65 armoured combat vehicles, and 14 tanks over the past day alone.
According to estimates by a prominent British military chief , it would take Putin five years to bring back Russia’s military strength to its February 24th 2022 strength.
“Our assessments are that it will take Putin five years to reconstitute the Russian army to where it was in February 2022,” Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the U.K. chief of the defense staff, said at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) land warfare conference in London. It will take another five years beyond that to “rectify the weaknesses that the war has revealed.”
These are not just Ukrainian estimates. Western estimates of Russian casualties have typically matched and confirmed Ukraine’s numbers in recent months.
For example, the British government said in late May 2024 that Russia’s killed and wounded had surpassed half a million since the full-scale invasion began.
So, how long can Russia keep this up?
Let me explain.
The way Ukraine wins this war, is not by physically driving every Russian soldier out of Ukraine; the way that Ukraine wins this war is by making it impossible for Russia to continue.
— Timothy Snyder
In order for Russia’s war to end, it has to be unsustainable. Of course, at this rate of casualties, it’s impossible for Russia to continue indefinitely. At the same time, the war is very costly for Ukraine. It’s economy has been practically put on pause after the full-scale invasion began.
Global pressure on Russia will not be enough — perhaps with the exception of China’s influence, which at the moment is still on Russia’s side (if we can simplify for the sake of this post).
Why do I think that?
Mainly because globally, the overwhelming majority has pressured Russia to end its war.
