Russia suffering highest casualty rate in Ukraine since first week of war: UK

Russia is likely suffering its highest casualty rate since the first week of war in Ukraine, according to a new intelligence update from the British Defense Ministry.

The average Russia casualties for the last week of warfare was 824 casualties each day, a figure U.K. Defense determined from daily statistics shared by Ukraine’s General Staff — a figure four times higher than what was reported between June and July of last year. 

“The uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including lack of trained personnel, coordination, and resources across the front,” U.K. Defence concluded. 

Russia suffered a daily average of as many as 1,140 casualties in February of last year, but that number starkly fell in the following months to less than 200 on average in mid-2022, according to a chart from the intelligence update.

Ukraine last week reported that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed in a single day of fighting,  raising the total throughout the war to more than 133,000.

Russia’s war on Ukraine will hit its first anniversary on Feb. 24, and Moscow appears to be amassing troops in preparation for an offensive to coincide with the one-year mark. 

Many of those troops were called up last year in a partial mobilization of military reservists.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group has made advances near the eastern city of Bakhmut, but paid a heavy cost in some of the most brutal fighting in the war.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who has led the ministry since the start of the war, is expected to be replaced by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Kyiv’s military intelligence agency, amid a series of corruptions scandals.