Russia Has Lost 87% Of The Troops It Had Before Ukraine War

Russia has lost a staggering 87% of the total number of active-duty ground troops it had prior to launching its invasion of Ukraine and two-thirds of its pre-invasion tanks, a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress told Katie Bo Lillis of CNN.

4,400 of 13,600 Russian infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers have also been destroyed, a 32% loss rate. I Photo: 118th Mechanized Brigade; Defence of Ukraine X

Reporting for NBC News, Dan De Luce wrote that in the past 22 months, 315,000 Russian troops have been killed and wounded, according to the assessment provided to lawmakers.

Prior to the invasion, Russia had a ground force strength of about 360,000. Russia has also sustained huge losses in equipment, with 2,200 tanks destroyed out of a force of 3,500 and one-third of its armored vehicles knocked out of action, the assessment said.

CNN noted that 4,400 of 13,600 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers have also been destroyed, a 32% loss rate.

Before the invasion, Russia had a total standing military of approximately 900,000 active-duty troops, including ground troops, airborne troops, special operations, and other uniformed personnel, according to the CIA.

Since the start of the invasion, Russia has announced plans to increase the size of the armed forces to 1.5 million.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced several rounds of conscription, including its regular fall conscription cycle on October 1.

Russia has also leaned heavily on convicts marshaled to the fight by the Wagner Group and has increased the age limit for certain categories of citizens to remain in the reserve of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

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