In October, Russia recorded its highest rate of casualties since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, according to the United Kingdom’s Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin.
In an interview on BBC’s “Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg,” Radakin said Russian forces sustained an average of over 1,500 casualties per day—either killed or injured—during the month of October.
He called these figures “an extraordinary price” Russia is paying for incremental territorial gains. While these advances are putting pressure on Ukrainian forces, Radakin emphasized that the losses suffered are substantial.
Military analysts, including the Institute for the Study of War, have raised concerns about the sustainability of Russia’s high casualty rates in exchange for limited territorial gains, suggesting that continued losses at this level could become unsustainable.
The total Russian losses since the war began remain under debate, with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimating that around 709,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. United States officials provided a similar figure last month, indicating over 600,000 Russian casualties, while NATO officials have cited a comparable estimate. The casualty rate in Ukraine is over 40 times the total losses Russia suffered during its 1980s war in Afghanistan.
Russian officials, including the Kremlin, have not provided specific updates on troop losses in Ukraine, while Ukraine’s General Staff and independent organizations continue to monitor and share data on the situation.
The ongoing conflict has seen an increase in drone attacks from both sides. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia launched a record 145 Shahed and other types of drones into Ukrainian territory in one night. This came just hours after Moscow faced a drone strike in the capital and its surrounding suburbs, where Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin reported 32 drones had been intercepted.
