Every day, Ukrainian defenders are incapacitating over a thousand Russian troops, which has led to a serious personnel crisis in the occupying army.
The myth of Russia’s inexhaustible human resources is beginning to crumble under the pressure of real figures from the battlefield. In 2025, the occupation army first encountered a critical trend: the scale of personnel losses exceeded the Kremlin’s ability to replenish the troops. According to TSN, General Alexander Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, spoke about this in an interview with Le Monde. PromPolitInform reports.
Russia’s losses exceeded mobilization.
Syrsky emphasized that 2025 was the first year of full-scale war, when the negative dynamics for the occupiers became obvious. “Despite the fact that 406,000 men were mobilized and drafted in 2025, their total losses in killed and wounded amounted to approximately 418,000 fighters,” the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated.
Thus, the Russian mobilization machine simply cannot keep up with the amount of manpower that Ukrainian defenders are grinding down daily.
According to the general, Russia was attempting to maximize its presence on Ukrainian territory. It is known that the offensive forces of the aggressor country have been increased to 713,000 soldiers. But even such a massive force is rapidly depleting.
Syrsky emphasized that the intensity of fighting remains extremely high, and Ukrainian troops continue to inflict maximum damage on the enemy.
“Currently, the troops are incapacitating 1,000-1,100 Russian soldiers, killed and wounded, per day,” the Commander-in-Chief stated. As a reminder, according to Pavel Lakiychuk, head of security programs at the Strategy XXI Center for Global Studies, Russian President Vladimir Putin is avoiding declaring a general mobilization, attempting to compensate for army losses through financial incentives for contract soldiers.
According to the expert, Russia is facing an acute personnel shortage, and the pace of troop replenishment no longer covers losses at the front. Even significant one-time payments for signing contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense do not provide the required number of recruits.
Previously, convicts were one of the sources for replenishing units, but this resource, according to Lakiychuk, has been virtually exhausted. Consequently, Moscow has stepped up the recruitment of migrants from Central Asian countries and is exploring ways to attract foreign military contingents.
Among potential options, the expert mentioned the use of North Korean units, as well as the theoretical possibility of pressuring the Belarusian leadership. At the same time, self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has previously shown no willingness to transfer his army under Moscow’s direct control. According to the analyst, the Kremlin will balance the risks of a general mobilization within Russia with attempts to expand alternative sources of military reinforcements.
