Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
A Russian official said that roughly half of those seriously injured in the war have suffered limb amputations.
Russia is sharply expanding its purchases of prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation equipment, as the number of soldiers returning disabled from the war in Ukraine continues to rise.
The government’s 2026 budget allocates unprecedented funds to address what analysts describe as a growing national crisis.
Researcher Janis Klug from the German Institute for International Security Issues, wrote on X, that Moscow has set aside 98.16 billion rubles — over one billion euros/1.2 billion USD — for “technical rehabilitation means for people with disabilities.”
Tripled since before the war
This figure marks a threefold increase compared with pre-war spending levels.
In 2020–2021, Russia allocated about 33 billion rubles annually for such purposes.
The amount rose to 37.2 billion in 2022, 42.2 billion in 2023, 55.8 billion in 2024, and 75.4 billion this year.
The dramatic surge reflects the mounting number of Russians returning from the front with life-altering injuries.
War’s hidden toll
Timur Grishin, a member of the Russian Association of Prosthetists and Orthopedists, told Russian media that “there is a huge flow of people with injuries who need both prostheses and all technical means of rehabilitation.”
He added that the number of people with non-war-related disabilities has not grown — yet those civilians now receive fewer rehabilitation resources due to the war’s demands.
Reports by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) suggest that by the end of 2024, roughly 376,000 Russians had been seriously wounded in combat and classified as disabled.
The same institute estimated that total Russian military losses between 2022 and 2024 reached 783,000 — including 172,000 killed and 611,000 injured.
A generation of amputees
Of the injured, IISS experts said 235,000 could recover fully, while the rest remain permanently disabled.
A senior Russian official told The New York Times that roughly half of those seriously wounded suffered limb amputations.
Based on IISS figures, the number of amputees returning from the front could exceed 180,000.
Russia’s Social Fund also recorded a sharp rise in the country’s overall disability numbers.
Between 2023 and 2024, the total number of people registered as disabled increased by 290,000 — the largest jump since 2005.
As of early 2025, 11.122 million Russians were listed as living with disabilities.
Mounting human cost
Analysts say the figures underline the deep and long-term social impact of the war on Russian society.
With more than a hundred thousand amputees expected to require lifelong support, the government faces a costly and complex rehabilitation effort for years to come.
Sources: Digi24, The New York Times, IISS, Reuters
This article is made and published by Jens Asbjørn Bogen, who may have used AI in the preparation
