The exact numbers are unclear: an investigative portal is now reporting on tens of thousands of Russian soldiers who can no longer fight: because they were killed, are missing or were injured so badly that they cannot return to military service.
More than 90,000 Russian soldiers may have been killed, missing or so badly injured in the war against Ukraine that they can no longer fight. The Russian-language investigative site calls this number Important Stories and reports "irretrievable losses." The Latvia-based site relies on two sources: a former officer in the Russian special services and an active officer in the FSB secret service.
The number is close to the figures given by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in August. At the time, he spoke of more than 80,000 losses in the Russian armed forces - adding up dead, wounded and deserters. "That's 80,000 in six months, compared to 15,000 they've lost in Afghanistan in a decade," Wallace said on the BBC. In June he put the number of Russian soldiers killed at more than 25,000.
Moscow itself has largely kept a low profile when it comes to the number of its own victims. In September, however, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine. Kyiv, on the other hand, puts the number of Russian victims significantly higher. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry estimates that 63,800 Russians have died since the war began on February 24.
As the "Moscow Times" writes, the number of 90,000 corresponds to almost half of the 190,000 Russian soldiers who are said to have been ordered across the Ukrainian border in the initial phase of the invasion. Because of the enormous losses and the fierce resistance of the Ukrainian troops, Russian President Vladimir Putin last month declared the "partial" mobilization of the Russian population. Much of this has been chaotic, however, and hundreds of thousands of Russians have since fled the country, fearing conscription.
