Ukraine Lost Nearly 500,000 Troops in 2025, Says Russia

Darwin, 18 December: Ukraine has lost nearly 500,000 soldiers in fighting against Russian forces since January 2025, losses that Kyiv is unlikely to be able to make up in the near future, Russia has claimed.

Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov made the statement during a high-level meeting on Wednesday, according to Russia’s state-run broadcaster RT. President Vladimir Putin was also present at the Russian Defence Ministry’s board meeting.

Belousov said that since the beginning of 2025, around 500,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in clashes with Russian forces. He added that rebuilding and reorganizing Ukraine’s military in the near future would be extremely difficult, as heavy casualties have reduced public willingness to join the armed forces through compulsory conscription.

The Russian defence minister also claimed that Ukraine has lost more than 103,000 units of weapons and military equipment this year alone. According to him, these losses include about 5,500 tanks and armored vehicles, many of which were supplied to Ukraine by Western countries.

Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in 2022 after years of escalating tensions, including disputes over Crimea’s status and Kyiv’s push for NATO membership. Shortly after the war began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree banning men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country.

At the start of the war, the minimum age for civilian enlistment in Ukraine’s armed forces was 27, which was lowered to 25 last year. Reports have also emerged over the past year of clashes in several Ukrainian regions between civilians and military recruitment officials, amid allegations of forced conscription.

Ukraine has not yet responded to the latest claims made by the Russian defence minister.