In December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv has lost more than 43,000 soldiers killed in action with more than 370,000 wounded in almost three years of fighting.
The Kremlin does not reveal casualties, but Syrskyi estimated that in 2024 alone Russia lost 150,000 soldiers killed and more than 400,000 wounded. Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia has lost 818,740 troops killed or wounded since the full-scale war began.
Even though Syrskyi said Russia’s losses were “many times higher” than Ukraine’s, the impact is felt on the front.
“As in any conflict lasting more than a year, the longer the war continues, the fewer professional soldiers remain on the front lines. At the same time, there is a growing need to recruit and train people from civilian life who have no previous military experience,” said Olena Tregub, executive director of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission and a member of the Public Anti-Corruption Commission under the Ministry of Defense.
“These people are often psychologically and physically unprepared for combat, and their adaptation takes time. This is an inevitable challenge that Ukraine faced — as would any other country that would find itself in such a protracted war,” she added.
Personnel problems are coming to the fore as Ukraine struggles to slow Russia’s advance. Since May the Kremlin has retaken part of the Kharkiv region liberated by Ukraine in 2022, and has seized some 2,800 square kilometers of land — about 0.4 percent of Ukraine’s territory.
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