"Estimated 70,000 Russian Troops Killed or Wounded in the Last Two Months"

Estimated 70,000 Casualties in UK Intelligence Report
Result of Offensive Around Putin's Fifth Term Inauguration

An analysis has emerged that the Russian military has suffered approximately 70,000 casualties over the past two months around May of this year, when Russian President Vladimir Putin's fifth term inauguration ceremony took place.

Ukrainian soldiers fighting near Zaporizhzhia (Photo by Yonhap News)

On the 12th (local time), the United Kingdom's Defence Intelligence (DI) posted a daily report on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), estimating that "Russia has likely lost over 70,000 troops in the past two months."

DI calculated that "the average daily casualties of Russian forces in Ukraine reached the highest levels of this conflict, with 1,262 in May and 1,163 in June of this year."

DI analyzed that "the increase in Russian military casualties is related to opening a new front targeting Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, while maintaining pressure levels across the entire eastern and southern fronts, which stretch about 1,000 km, at the same level as before."

It added, "This new approach intensified frontline pressure, but due to Ukraine's effective defense and the Russian military's lack of training, Russia's ability to capitalize on tactical successes was limited."

DI forecasted that "as Russia continues attempts to overwhelm Ukrainian positions with sheer numbers, the Russian military casualty rate is likely to remain above 1,000 per day on average for the next two months."

Following President Putin's fifth term inauguration ceremony (May 7) and Victory Day, the World War II end commemoration (May 9), the Russian military launched large-scale offensives, pushing Ukrainian forces back in various locations, resulting in significant casualties.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed in an interview with U.S. media last month that for every one Ukrainian soldier killed or wounded, there are six Russian casualties.

Russia has not disclosed specific casualty figures from this war. The British weekly magazine The Economist reported that by mid-June this year, an estimated 462,000 to 728,000 Russian troops were rendered combat ineffective.

This number exceeds the total Russian military personnel mobilized at the time of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.