Russian losses exceed contract recruitment: more than 40,000 soldiers die in month - Defence Ministry
In 2024, Russia lost more than 40,000 soldiers at the front every month, which exceeds the rate of recruitment.
This was stated by Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk in an interview with "Ukrinform", Censor.NET reports.
According to him, despite the active recruitment of contract soldiers, the rate of losses of the Russian army remains higher.
"That is, the Russian army was replenished by about 36,000 soldiers every month. And during the last quarter of 2024 and January 2025, the aggressor lost more than 40,000 soldiers on the battlefield in Ukraine every month," Havryliuk said.
He also stressed that the Kremlin is trying to compensate for these losses by using prisoners, residents of the temporarily occupied territories, soldiers from North Korea and mercenaries from different countries.
"That is, the Russian army is in deficit, if we do not take into account mercenaries and soldiers from North Korea," the deputy minister stressed.
At the same time, Havryliuk noted that Moscow still has a significant mobilisation resource within the country, and the Russian command is actively recruiting using financial incentives and propaganda.
Earlier it was reported that the Ukrainian Defence Forces had eliminated 845,310 Russian invaders since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
