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Russian Army Shrinks by 50% And Running Out of Manpower For Replacement

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Vlad Litnarovych
Vlad Litnarovych
Author
Russian Army Shrinks by 50% And Running Out of Manpower For Replacement
A view of a destroyed Russian tank in Velyka Komyshuvaha village near Izium, Ukraine on June 23, 2023. (Source: Getty Images)

The Russian army has suffered irrecoverable losses amounting to nearly half of its total personnel at the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to military expert Yuriy Fedorov in an interview with Novaya Gazeta. Europe on February 21.

Fedorov cited data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which estimates that as of early 2025, Russian forces have lost 172,000 troops killed and 611,000 wounded.

Of those wounded, 235,000 have returned to combat, while at least 376,000 sustained severe injuries preventing them from ever fighting again.

“As a result, Russia’s irrecoverable losses stand at approximately 550,000 soldiers and officers—half of the total pre-war strength of the Russian Armed Forces, including naval and air force personnel,” Fedorov explained.

According to IISS, there are currently 617,000 Russian troops deployed on the Ukrainian front. Their numbers are slowly declining despite Russia’s extensive recruitment efforts in the regions, which offer huge financial incentives for frontline deployment.

Federal budget data indicates that throughout 2024, Moscow was recruiting around 1,000 soldiers per day.

However, Fedorov noted that these recruitment numbers barely offset mounting battlefield losses, which in recent months may have reached 1,500 troops per day.

Soviet-Era equipment running low

Fedorov also warned that Russia’s stockpiles of Soviet-era tanks and armored vehicles are dwindling:

“More than 80% of this equipment has already been pulled from long-term storage sites east of the Ural Mountains and refurbished by the military-industrial complex to a usable state,” he said.

The exact number of remaining stockpiled vehicles is unknown, but satellite imagery suggests these reserves could be depleted by the end of the year.

According to IISS, in 2024 alone, Russia lost:

  • 1,400 main battle tanks

  • 3,700 infantry fighting vehicles

  • Over 14,000 pieces of military hardware since the start of the war

“At present, Russia’s defense industry produces only around 25 new tanks per month,” Fedorov stated. “The rest comes from storage depots.”

Fedorov noted that Russia has already deployed its most viable and modernized equipment to Ukraine, leaving its stockpiles with increasingly obsolete and non-repairable Soviet models from the 1960s and 1970s.

Report from the Ukrainian General Staff on the Russian losses in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. (Source: General Stuff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)
Report from the Ukrainian General Staff on the Russian losses in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. (Source: General Stuff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine)

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff estimates total Russian combat losses from February 24, 2022, to February 21, 2025, as follows:

  • Personnel: ~864,860 (+1,280 in the last 24 hours)

  • Tanks: 10,146 (+12)

  • Armored Fighting Vehicles: 21,130 (+18)

  • Artillery Systems: 23,462 (+52)

  • MLRS: 1,295 (+4)

  • Air Defense Systems: 1,080 (+2)

  • Aircraft: 370

  • Helicopters: 331

Earlier, reports emerged that the Russian army lost 7,000 soldiers irretrievably and a total of 15,000 troops—including the wounded and missing—on the Pokrovsk front alone, surpassing the total number of Russian casualties during the entire Second Chechen War.

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