Snow drifts across a cratered field near Avdiivka. A lone medevac truck lurches through the mud, headlights cutting through the smoke. Inside, a medic’s voice crackles over the radio — another unit hit, more wounded on the way.
Across hundreds of miles, scenes like this repeat in silence. According to Ukrainian and Western intelligence, over 1.1 million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the invasion began in February 2022 — a staggering toll Russia no longer reports.
Escalating Toll
The tempo of Russian losses is accelerating. Ukrainian General Staff data show that recent daily casualties frequently exceed 1,000—a rate unseen in modern European warfare. On some days, losses surge even higher, like the grim 24 hours of October 21–22.
Analysts warn that this scale of attrition—over 365,000 troops per year—raises existential questions about Russia’s ability to sustain its offensive operations into 2026.
War’s Deadly Timeline
Since February 2022, the war has evolved through brutal cycles of escalation. Initial assaults cost tens of thousands of lives; later offensives in 2024 pushed daily Russian casualties to 1,570.
After a short lull, the toll began climbing again in late 2025, culminating in October’s catastrophic figures. Nearly 1,133,250 troops have now been lost—more than 75 times the Soviet death toll in Afghanistan.
Relentless Pressure
Ukrainian forces are pressing relentlessly across multiple fronts. On October 21 alone, they fought 108 separate engagements, 45 of them concentrated in the Pokrovsk sector—a hotspot now likened to a “21st-century Verdun.”
The scale and intensity of these battles have left Russia’s manpower and equipment reserves dangerously depleted, forcing Moscow to rely on repeated mobilizations and emergency conscription waves.
Record Losses Revealed
Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed that as of October 22, Russia’s cumulative combat losses reached 1,133,250 personnel. In that same 24-hour period, Russian forces also lost 2 tanks, 11 armored vehicles, 12 artillery systems, 160 drones, and 96 supply trucks.
These figures paint a picture of extraordinary attrition—both human and mechanical—as Russian forces grind forward at staggering cost for minimal territorial gains.
Regional Impact
The Donetsk region remains the epicenter of the bloodshed. Russian troops have clawed out limited advances near Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, but every kilometer has been paid for with hundreds of lives.
Constant artillery duels and drone strikes have turned the landscape into a wasteland of burned vehicles and shattered towns—an area now considered one of the deadliest battlefields on Earth.
Human Cost Unfolds
Millions of Russian families have been directly affected by casualties. Whole communities are grieving sons, husbands, and fathers who will never return.
As NATO’s General Christopher Cavoli remarked, “The scale of this conflict is awe-inspiring.” The war’s human toll is rippling far beyond the front lines—reshaping Russia’s demography and society.
Equipment Attrition
The destruction of Russian hardware is staggering. Since February 2022, Russia has lost at least 11,280 tanks, 23,447 armored vehicles, and 72,760 drones, along with nearly 34,000 artillery systems.
Analysts warn that Russia is rapidly depleting its usable reserves—its entire pre-war tank inventory has effectively been erased.
Macro Trends
According to UK Defence Intelligence, Russia’s cumulative casualties surpassed 1.118 million by mid-October 2025, before reaching the confirmed 1.133 million days later.
The trend line is clear: Russian losses are accelerating, not stabilizing. The toll now exceeds all NATO combat losses since 1945 combined, signaling that this war has become a grinding war of attrition with no visible endpoint.
Collateral Consequences
Russia’s logistics are unraveling under pressure. With so many transport and fuel vehicles destroyed—over 65,000 to date—some Russian units now resort to moving supplies using civilian trucks or even livestock.
Satellite imagery and field reports suggest increasing improvisation at every level, as the Kremlin struggles to maintain front-line supply chains amid constant drone strikes and sabotage.
Internal Frustration
Inside Russia, frustration and grief are mounting. Independent media and social networks report growing anger among soldiers’ families over withheld casualty information and unpaid benefits.
Even before his death, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin accused the Defense Ministry of concealing losses—a charge that continues to resonate among military bloggers and disillusioned troops.
Leadership Under Strain
The Kremlin faces growing internal strain as losses mount. Official casualty statements remain infrequent and widely doubted. Western and Ukrainian intelligence assessments suggest that actual figures are three to five times higher than those publicly acknowledged.
Each new milestone erodes the government’s credibility, raising doubts about President Putin’s ability to sustain public support for an increasingly costly war.
Regeneration Efforts
To offset catastrophic losses, Moscow has intensified mobilization and production. Civilian factories are being converted to produce shells and drones, and new tank plants have opened across Russia.
Yet experts warn that the country’s usable tank reserves are nearly exhausted, and recruitment efforts are drawing increasingly on older conscripts, prisoners, and untrained recruits. Replacement efforts simply cannot match current loss rates.
Expert Doubts
Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) note that Russia’s casualty count surpassed one million by mid-2025, with some projections suggesting it could approach 1.2 million by early 2026.
The scale of loss challenges the myth of Russian military invincibility. “Moscow is burning through an army a year,” one Western analyst noted. With hardware depletion and manpower collapse accelerating, many question whether Russia can continue offensive operations without outside help or drastic policy shifts.
What’s Next?
As Russian casualties surpass 1.13 million, the war enters a perilous phase. Can Moscow endure another winter offensive at this rate? Or will exhaustion, public anger, and economic strain force a strategic reckoning? The answers remain uncertain.
What is clear is that Russia’s campaign has become a test not just of territory, but of national endurance, leadership legitimacy, and the limits of human cost.