Russia suffered over 600,000 casualties in Ukraine: Western Intel

Last month alone, Russia suffered a daily average of 1,187 dead and wounded, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its update, citing Ukrainian military reports, which Business Insider could not independently verify. That figure is slightly higher than Moscow’s average daily losses of 1,140 troops in July.

Britain said the rise in the Russian casualty rate was “almost certainly” due to Ukraine’s ongoing invasion of Russia, now about a month old, and continued Russian advances towards the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine said one of the goals of its invasion of Russia’s Kursk region was to divert Moscow’s forces away from Pokrovsk. However, Kiev admitted that this attempt to reduce pressure in this critical sector of the frontline did not take place.

“Russia continues to rely on mass to mitigate its lack of personnel and equipment capabilities,” the UK MoD said in its update. “Although Russian pressure along the entire front line will continue over the next month, their capability constraints will likely continue to reduce their ability to exploit any tactical success into broader operational gains.”

The Defense Ministry added that Russia is likely to continue to average more than 1,000 daily casualties for the rest of September as its forces fight along the extended front line. Moscow has consistently seen heavy losses since the beginning of the summer.

Beyond personnel, Russia has lost a huge amount of military equipment since the beginning of the war. These include nearly 10,000 armored vehicles, hundreds of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters and dozens of naval vessels, according to the open-source intelligence site Oryx, which tracks war losses on both sides.

War analysts said that despite these losses and a high rate of equipment attrition, Russia can continue its war in Ukraine for years to come.