How much the war in Ukraine costs Russia: British intelligence reveals figures.

According to the intelligence of the UK Ministry of Defence, Russia has lost over 610 thousand of its military personnel in Ukraine (killed and wounded). The tactics of the Russian army, based on mass infantry waves, require constant replenishment of forces on the front line with new recruits.

Compared to last year, the recruitment rates of Russian military personnel in 2024 have decreased. As Russian officials stated at the end of 2023, about 1600 people are recruited daily. However, publicly released figures this year indicate that this number is around 1000 people per day.

In this regard, the Russian Ministry of Defence increased bonuses for joining the service in August 2024, which is an increasingly expensive recruitment strategy. According to British intelligence, payments to military personnel amount to about 8% of federal spending in the year up to June 2024.

In total, during the hostilities in Ukraine, more than a million military personnel have been killed or wounded. During the war in Ukraine, about 80 thousand military personnel were killed, and more than 400 thousand were wounded. On the side of the Russian Federation, more than 400 thousand were wounded, and about 200 thousand military personnel were killed.

Prior to this, Vladimir Putin increased the authorised strength of the Russian army to 2 million 389 thousand people, of which 1.5 million are military personnel.