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Russian Military Deaths Surge, Leaving Kremlin Short of Troops Without New Mobilization
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The number of Russian soldiers killed in action in the ongoing war against Ukraine has significantly increased in recent weeks, a trend that could make it increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to replace its troops without resorting to a new mobilization, according to Bloomberg on November 30, citing European assessments.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reported that Ukrainian forces killed 35,000 Russian soldiers in December. He stated that the goal is to increase that number to 50,000 by this summer, a figure that would roughly double the monthly average of losses calculated by NATO for 2025.
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The heightened lethality has been attributed to more effective Ukrainian drone operations, with assessments from multiple European governments noting that the ratio of deaths to injuries has recently shifted in favor of fatalities.
According to these assessments, the number of Russian casualties now matches the Kremlin's recruitment capacity, leading several experts to predict that replacing these losses would require another mobilization campaign.
However, Bloomberg writes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is unlikely to pursue such a measure, as mobilization remains deeply unpopular in Russia. He has avoided a repeat of the September 2022 call-up of 300,000 reservists, which resulted in a mass exodus of Russian citizens and a surge in public discontent with the war.
Meanwhile, a new analysis released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) revealed that Russia has incurred extraordinarily high human losses in its ongoing war against Ukraine, while achieving minimal territorial advances.
The CSIS estimates that Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022. This figure marks the highest human losses sustained by any major power in a single conflict since World War II.
“Russian casualties and fatalities are unprecedented, even from a historical Russian and Soviet perspective,” CSIS stated.
This assessment sheds light on the staggering human cost Russia has paid in its invasion, which stands in stark contrast to the relatively limited territorial gains achieved in the conflict.
Earlier, in 2025, Russia saw the highest number of serious and particularly severe crimes in the past 15 years, with a total of 627,900 cases reported, indicating a significant decline in the country's internal security situation.
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