Kathrine Frich
For soldiers, death is an accepted companion, a risk that shadows every order and every mission.
They expect to fall in battle against an enemy, not through the failures or choices of their own command.
Yet a new video circulating in Russia has reignited debate about how far one nation’s leaders are willing to go in pursuit of victory.
Shocking accusation
A video shared by former Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko shows a Russian military blogger accusing the Kremlin of causing catastrophic losses.
Recorded inside a vehicle, the man, reportedly a former serviceman with connections to the front, claims Russia has effectively killed 80,000 to 100,000 of its own troops in attacks on the cities of Pokrovsk and Bakhmut.
“For these two small cities, Russia has already killed 80–100 thousand of its own soldiers,” he says in the clip. “It wasn’t Ukraine that killed them, it was Russia.”
His comments refer to pro-Kremlin figure “Zetnik,” who recently estimated between 40,000 and 50,000 Russian fatalities during the Pokrovsk campaign.
Mounting losses
Western intelligence had previously assessed that over 100,000 Russian troops were killed in the 2023 battle for Bakhmut.
The blogger compares these losses to those suffered by Nazi Germany in World War II, saying Russia has lost more soldiers in two cities than Germany did while occupying several European countries.
“For what? I just don’t understand why,” he adds.
The statement comes as Ukrainian officials report intense fighting in Donetsk, where roughly 110,000 Russian soldiers are believed to be concentrated near Pokrovsk, a town of 60,000 and a strategic rail hub.
Ukrainian estimates suggest as many as 700 Russian casualties each day, according to the Centre for European Policy Analysis.
Conflicting figures
President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the fighting in Donetsk “extremely difficult,” while Ukraine’s General Staff estimates that up to 200,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the region this year.
The UK Ministry of Defence reported in June that total Russian losses since the start of the invasion have exceeded one million, including around 250,000 deaths. NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg previously said Russia lost 100,000 troops in 2024 alone.
An analysis by BBC Media Action placed Russian deaths by mid-2025 above 220,000, excluding mercenaries.
Official Russian numbers remain below 6,000, a figure dismissed by Western observers as implausible.
Growing discontent
The clip has quickly spread across Russian social media, drawing attention from military bloggers and ordinary citizens alike.
While state-controlled outlets continue to present the “special military operation” as a success, dissenting voices from within the ranks suggest rising frustration and despair.
Gerashchenko’s post has received tens of thousands of views, with many commenters expressing concern for the blogger’s safety.
Kremlin officials labeled the claims “Ukrainian disinformation,” but analysts warn that such videos could further damage morale among Russian troops as winter approaches.
As the conflict grinds on, the footage serves as a grim reminder of the growing divide between the men fighting and those commanding them, and of the heavy cost borne by those expected to obey without question.
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Sources: Kyiv Post, Reuters, BBC, Centre for European Policy Analysis, Anton Gerashchenko (X). Express.
This article is made and published by Kathrine Frich, who may have used AI in the preparation
