Monday 23 May 2022 10:37 AM Russia has lost as many men in Ukraine invasion as it did during entire ... trends now
Russian losses in Ukraine over the first three months are likely to have already surpassed those of the Soviet-Afghan war which lasted nine years, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
The Soviet Union's losses are estimated to be around 15,000 killed in the Afghan war, with an additional 35,478 wounded and 311 missing.
'The Russian public has, in the past, proven sensitive to casualties suffered during wars of choice,' said the UK government ministry, which did not name the exact figure.
'As casualties suffered in Ukraine continue to rise they will become more apparent, and public dissatisfaction with the war and a willingness to voice it may grow.'
Poor tactics, limited air cover, a lack of flexibility, and a command approach reinforcing failure and repeating mistakes has led to the high casualty rate, said the ministry.
The UK's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace previously estimated that approximately a quarter of Russia's battalion tactical groups were 'not combat effective.'
Russian troops are steadily advancing across Ukraine's eastern Donbas (pictured in Mariupol), but are suffering 'huge' losses in the process which will leave them too weakened to defend the eventual frontline - which will be hundreds of miles long
A Russian soldier aims his rifle while patrolling the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works in the city of Mariupol, after it fell to Putin's men
Rescuers work at a site of an apartment building destroyed by Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk region
A destroyed Russian tank is seen in a village to the north of Kharkiv after the area was recaptured by Ukrainian forces
A member of the Russian armed forces holding a heavy machine gun stands guard
