Russia lost around 420,000 soldiers last year (dead and wounded) as it advanced into Ukrainian territory and launched a counteroffensive at Kursk. The Russian army managed to occupy 4,168 square kilometers in Ukraine, most of the occupied areas being fields and small settlements.
For every square kilometer gained in 2024, the Russians lost an average of 102 soldiers. The most significant land occupations took place between September and November 2024, during which Russia gained 56.5% of all its territorial gains in 2024, but it was also the period in which it lost 125,800 soldiers, writes Monitorul Apărării, citing the Institute for the Study of War, reports Mediafax.
“The Russian military command tolerated the high levels of human losses (dead and wounded) recorded between September and November 2024 in order to achieve significant territorial gains, but it is unclear whether this military command will be able to maintain this number of casualties if the rate of advance of Russian forces on the ground decreases, given that the Russians are now moving towards defended settlements, such as Pokrovsk,” writes ISW.
In December, the Russian offensive slowed down
According to ISW data, Russian forces captured only 593 square kilometers, or about 18.1 square kilometers per day. Meanwhile, Russian losses are high, about 1,585 soldiers per day, the fourth highest rate of Russian losses since the beginning of the war.
In this context, Russia is looking to attract more people to the military. Dmitry Medvedev announced on December 24 that 440,000 people have signed contracts with the defense ministry by 2024, suggesting that Russia will recruit enough personnel to replace the huge losses.
On the other side of the conflict, Ukraine has lost a similar number of people, with President Zelensky saying on December 8 that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died and another 370,000 have been wounded since the beginning of the invasion in 2022.
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