Russian casualties in Ukraine up to 80,000, US says

WASHINGTON -- A senior US official estimated Monday (August 8) that as many as 80,000 Russians have been killed or wounded in Ukraine since the war began in late February.

"The Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties in less than six months," Under Secretary of Defence Colin Kahl said.

Kahl also said Russian forces have also lost "three or four thousand" armored vehicles, and could be running low on available precision-guided missiles, including air and sea-launched cruise missiles, after firing a large number on Ukraine targets since invading their neighbour February 24.

Those losses are "pretty remarkable considering the Russians have achieved none of Vladimir Putin's objectives at the beginning of the war," he told reporters, referring to the Russian president.

The slowdown in Russian forces' use of longer-range and precision-guided missiles was an indicator that their supplies had fallen close to what Moscow needed to hold in reserve for "other contingencies", he said.

The Ukraine side also had significant losses of manpower on the battlefield, Kahl admitted, without giving figures.

"Both sides are taking casualties. The war is the most intense conventional conflict in Europe since the Second World War," he said.

"But the Ukrainians have a lot of advantages, not the least of which is their will to fight."

Estimates of Russian casualties range. Russia has lost more than 41,500 troops since the start of the invasion, according to the latest Ukrainian military update.

Before this latest US assessment, Western sources usually gave a more conservative figure on Russian casualties.

However, some Central Asian observers consider Russia's losses to be staggering.

"The Russian army in Ukraine is suffering huge personnel losses," said Alisher Ilkhamov, director of Central Asia Due Diligence in London, noting that "the magnitude of these losses already significantly exceeds the loss of Soviet troops in Afghanistan".

The Soviet army fought in Afghanistan for more than nine years.

Recruiting Central Asians

The steep losses for the Kremlin have caused it to step up recruitment.

According to government sources and regional media, Kremlin-backed mercenaries are attempting to recruit Central Asians to fight in Ukraine.

Residents of Central Asian countries are presently the target of recruiters from the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company (PMC) known for its involvement in conflicts in Africa, Syria and Ukraine.

Russians have duelling attitudes about the war: many verbally support the "special operation", but few are willing to go to the front, even if they are well compensated, Ilkhamov said.

Russia's leaders are afraid to announce a general mobilisation, fearing public discontent, he added.

"Accordingly, the ongoing recruitment of volunteers in Russia itself is insufficient to fully make up the losses, calling into question whether the declared goals of the invasion of Ukraine will be achieved," he said.

"They have been forced to turn to the citizens of Central Asian countries, which supply most migrant workers to Russia and the economies of which are heavily dependent on their remittances."