United States Intelligence Report Says 315 Thousand Russian Soldiers Were Killed or Wounded in the War in Ukraine

Rongsokan kendaraan militer Rusia di sekitar Kyiv. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - An unclassified United States (US) intelligence report assesses that the war in Ukraine has left 315,000 Russian troops dead and injured, or almost 90 percent of the number of personnel Russia had when the conflict began, a source familiar with the intelligence report said on Tuesday.

The report also assessed that Moscow's losses in personnel and armored vehicles for the Ukrainian military have set back Russia's military modernization by 18 years, the sources said.

The source said a recently made public US intelligence report assessed that Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 with 360,000 personnel.

Since then, the report found, 315,000 Russian troops, or about 87 percent of the total troops who started the war, have been killed or wounded, the sources said.

The losses were the reason Russia relaxed recruitment standards for deployment to Ukraine, the source continued.

"The scale of losses has forced Russia to take extraordinary measures to maintain its warfighting capabilities. Russia announced the partial mobilization of 300,000 personnel by the end of 2022, and has relaxed standards to allow the recruitment of prisoners and elderly civilians," the report's assessment said, according to the source, reported by Reuters December 13.

Citing the report, the source said the Russian army started the war with 3,100 tanks but lost 2,200 tanks and had to "replenish" the force with T62 tanks produced in the 1970s, leaving only 1,300 tanks on the battlefield, the source said citing the report the.

The sources spoke as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea for more military aid to US lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where he faced a skeptical reception from top Republicans.

At a press conference the same day, US President Joe Biden reiterated his support for President Zelensky, warning lawmakers that they risk handing victory to Russia.

Separately, the Russian Embassy referred a request for comment to the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Russian officials have previously said Western estimates of Russia's death toll in the war are grossly exaggerated and almost always underestimate Ukraine's losses, which Russian officials say are enormous.

Separately, Kyiv treats its losses as a state secret and officials say disclosing the numbers could harm its war effort.

A New York Times report in August citing officials from Uncle Sam's country put the death toll in Ukraine at nearly 70,000.

Writing in the Ukrainian journal Tyzhden, historian Yaroslav Tynchenko and volunteer Herman Shapovalenko last month said the Shapovalenko Book of Memory project had confirmed 24,500 combat and non-combat deaths in Ukraine using open sources. The actual figure may be higher, they said.