Half million wounded: UK Intelligence assesses medical care in Russian army
Photo: The Russian army has serious problems with the wounded (GettyImages)
The Russian army faces severe issues with medical care at all levels, which are expected to persist through this winter, the official X channel of the UK Ministry of Defense reports.
According to the report, the Russian independent Astra news informed on November 14 that dozens of wounded Russian soldiers staged a riot in Novosibirsk, south-central Russia, due to inadequate medical treatment.
The soldiers from the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District reportedly complained about mistreatment by their unit commander and refused to return to the front lines without proper medical care. Russian soldiers are said to have smashed windows and damaged barracks, with ten individuals fleeing the facility.
"Shortages of armored vehicles and the persistent Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle threat result in significant delays to the evacuation of wounded Russian soldiers. This almost certainly increases the likelihood of more serious injuries and higher rates of mortality for those who are eventually evacuated through the medical system," the report by the UK Ministry of Defense stated.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, since February 2022, Russia has lost over 700,000 military personnel, with approximately 500,000 Russian soldiers wounded, the UK intelligence noted.
"It is almost certain that this scale of casualties continues to strain the Russian Military Medical System at all levels of medical care, causing significant logistic problems and resulting in a shortage of medical personnel. These problems will likely persist for at least the next three months," the UK Ministry of Defense predicts.
Earlier, NATO Military Committee's Chairman, Admiral Rob Bauer, stated that Russian ground forces are now larger than they were during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but their quality has since declined.
According to him, Russia no longer poses the same level of threat to NATO as it did in February 2022.
Since the beginning of the war against Ukraine, Russia has suffered over 700,000 casualties, including killed and wounded. The UK intelligence reported that in October, Russia's average daily troop losses reached a new high.
