[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunha] Western intelligence agencies have analyzed that the number of Russian soldiers killed or injured in the Ukraine war has reached up to 200,000. This is due to Russia choosing a war of attrition.
The Defense Intelligence (DI) under the UK Ministry of Defence estimated on the 17th (local time), one week before the first anniversary of the invasion (February 24), that the casualties of Russian regular troops and private mercenary groups since the invasion of Ukraine have reached 175,000 to 200,000. Among them, it is believed that 40,000 to 60,000 have died in action.
DI analyzed that the ratio of deaths to total casualties is "very high by modern standards," and it is certain that the overall medical service conditions in the Russian military are very poor.
The number of Russian military casualties has been increasing more steeply since Russia's 'partial mobilization order' in September last year. At that time, President Vladimir Putin conscripted about 300,000 reservists through the mobilization order, but most of the conscripts are reportedly being deployed to the front lines without sufficient training or proper equipment.
Prisoner soldiers recruited by the Russian private mercenary company Wagner Group, who participated in combat for six months under the condition that their remaining sentences would be canceled if they survived, are also victims. The UK DI analyzed that half of the Wagner Group mercenaries deployed to the battlefield became casualties.
John Kirby, spokesperson for the US White House National Security Council (NSC), said at a briefing that day, "The Wagner Group treats new recruits from prisoners as expendable. They literally throw the recruits into the 'meat grinder,'" criticizing, "According to previously collected information, 90% of Wagner Group deaths in December were prisoner soldiers."
Earlier on the 11th, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, said in an interview, "Russia is focusing on completely controlling the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine's Donbas area. It will take about one and a half to two more years," predicting that the war could continue for more than two years.
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