Russia is reportedly heading to lose 500,000 soldiers by the end of 2024 if casualties continue at their current rate.
The average daily number of Russian casualties in Ukraine has risen by almost 300 during the last year, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said, Business Insider reported, citing data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
The news outlet said there was no independent verification of the methodology used by the Ukrainian General Staff.
The Ministry of Defense said the toll reflects how the quality of the Russian military decreased after a partial mobilization of military reservists in September 2022 — turning Russian forces into "a low-quality, high-quantity mass army," Insider reported.
According to Insider, analysts have said Russia is employing "human-wave" tactics in Ukraine, in which large numbers of poorly trained soldiers are sent to the battlefield and die in high numbers.
John Kirby of the National Security Council told Insider the tactic demonstrated that Russia "continues to show no regard for the lives of its own soldiers, willingly sacrificing them in pursuit of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's goals."
The U.K. defense department estimates it would take Russia five to 10 years to rebuild a "highly trained, experienced readiness force."
U.S. intelligence estimates around 315,000 of Russia's troops have been killed or injured since the beginning of the war — around 90% of the personnel it had when the war began.
Meanwhile, Putin is claiming the West is the real "enemy" in an invasion approaching its second anniversary, Express reported.
Putin claims forces in Western countries are working to destroy "Russian statehood" and providing weapons to Ukraine to ensure a "strategic defeat" of Russia on the battlefield, Express reported.
While speaking to a wounded soldier at a military hospital, Putin claimed "Ukraine itself is not our enemy," Express reported.
"The point is not that they [the West] are helping our enemy. They are our enemy. Unfortunately, this has been the case for centuries and continues to be the case today."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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