Russian army losing troops faster than it can recruit – Ukraine’s Defense Ministry
Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk (Photo: Vitalii Nosach / RBC-Ukraine)
The Russian army is losing more soldiers on the battlefield than it recruits under contract, but it is still relying on mercenaries and North Korean troops, according to Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, in an interview with Ukrinform.
According to Havryliuk, at least 427,000 troops were recruited under contract into the Russian army in 2024.
“That means the Russian army was replenished by approximately 36,000 troops each month. However, in the last quarter of 2024 and in January 2025, the aggressor has been losing more than 40,000 soldiers per month on the battlefield in Ukraine,” he said.
At the same time, Havryliuk noted that Putin is increasingly drawing prisoners, residents of temporarily occupied territories, North Korean soldiers, and mercenaries from various countries into his ranks.
“In other words, the Russian army is in a deficit — if we don’t count mercenaries and North Korean troops,” he stated.
Havryliuk added that Moscow still has a vast mobilization resource inside Russia. “Many of them are currently replenishing the army, and it doesn’t matter whether financial incentives or propaganda are working more effectively,” he said.
Russia has lost more than 50,000 troops in 2025 and over 830,000 since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. British intelligence predicts that Moscow will continue to lose over 1,000 soldiers per day in February.
According to an RBC-Ukraine source in the Ukrainian General Staff, as of early November 2024, Russia’s military presence in Ukraine numbered approximately 575,000 personnel. Moscow had aimed to increase its forces to 690,000 by the end of the year, but due to heavy losses, it failed to achieve this goal.
