Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
January 2025 was the bloodiest month for the Russians with estimated losses of more than 48,000 personnel.
2025 has turned to 2026, and the war in Ukraine still rages on with the four-year-mark of the Russian invasion approaching quickly (February 24).
A lot have been written about the war during the past year, especially when the news about a U.S.-written 28-point peace plan broke.
That plan was since countered with a new plan from Ukraine and it’s European allies, and the hopes for a peaceful ending to the bloodshed regnited – but the diplomatic efforts seems to have hit a dead end, as Russia and Ukraine are lightyears apart on key issues, including territorial concessions.
Meanwhile, troops on the ground continues to clash with especially the East of Ukraine seeing heavy fighting in 2025.
And it has been a year of intense fighting, as a front-line overview from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence shows.
Note that the numbers have not been independently verified.
Hundreds of thousands
In an overview, release on January 1 2026, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence cites numbers from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stating that irreversible and sanitary losses among Russian occupying forces in 2025 are expected to exceed 418,000 soldiers.
Ukrainian officials say this total is roughly equivalent to the manpower of nearly 35 military divisions.
The General Staff reported that Russian forces lost an average of 1,145 soldiers per day during 2025. January marked the deadliest month, with personnel losses reaching 48,240.
Ukrainian military officials describe the figures as a continuation of sustained attrition since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Year by year losses
The General Staff said Russia lost 106,720 soldiers in 2022, followed by 253,290 in 2023. Losses increased sharply in 2024, reaching nearly 431,000 troops, according to the same source.
Taken together, Ukrainian estimates place total Russian personnel losses since the invasion at 1,208,970 soldiers over more than 1,400 days of war.
Ukrainian officials said this cumulative figure is comparable to the staffing levels of around 100 military divisions.
Equipment destruction
In addition to personnel losses, Ukrainian forces reported record destruction of Russian weapons and equipment in 2025. More than 14,000 artillery systems were destroyed during the year, the highest annual total recorded so far, according to the General Staff.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Ukraine estimates that Russian forces have lost 35,678 artillery systems in total.
The General Staff also reported unprecedented losses of Russian automotive equipment in 2025, with about 40,000 vehicles destroyed. Ukrainian forces say this exceeds the combined vehicle losses recorded between 2022 and 2024, bringing the total number of neutralized vehicles to 72,418.
Sources: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ministry of Defence of Ukraine
