General Staff: Russia has lost 466,150 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022

mycathas9lives@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 205 points –
General Staff: Russia has lost 466,150 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
kyivindependent.com

Out of the half a million troops killed I wonder how many were actually Russians? Doesn't look like things are working out for them.

20

That number doesn't mean KIA. That encompasses all casualties. So if you got arms and legs blown off and can no longer fight, you are lumped into that number. The KIA number is around 130-140k. Which is still a lot of people.

In context of the war, this number is more relevant. Dead or too injured to fight, fewer troops are fewer troops. It doesn't really matter what percentage in that 466,150 number are still alive when it comes to Russia's chances against the Ukrainian military.

Not disputing that. Just that OP labeled them all as killed. Any Russian sent home in a box or carried out on a litter is a win for democracy.

Russia has more to spend. Ukraine doesn't which is becoming more and more apparent. Luckily that US bill was approved. But still there will need to be some immense luck and enginuity for Ukraine not to fall. Not to mention for Europe to stop this common delusion, come together and form a modern and strong army to step behind Ukraine with long term support. Probably with soldiers as well.

How is having more money going to put more people on the ground?

They meant Russia has more bodies to spend

If you can expend more artillery, you can use less soldiers.

You can't capture a city with artillery.

No, that'd be weird. You use artillery and soldiers.

The less soldiers you lose, the more you have left.

When you have better tech, you need fewer soldiers. It's the same with artillery as it is with drones.

Here’s a great illustration of how many people Russia was willing to lose in ww2. I think that mindset is still alive and well today.

https://youtu.be/DwKPFT-RioU?si=kJTzsBFN7WGjEpAv

It's worth remembering that WW2 was an existential threat to the Soviet Union and most of the people living in it. This war isn't. See how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan turned out.

And, of course, Ukraine was also part of the Soviet Union. Russians weren't the only ones fighting the Nazis on the Eastern Front

It's there in their leaders, sure.

I don't believe the people see it the same way.

I’m not hearing a lot about the Russian people being against the war.

I have. Did you not see there was an open armed rebellion in Russia? Granted it was the Wagner group but still, the people of Russia certainly didn't stop them or unite against the rebellion.

Of course not. They're living in fear of their lives if they critisise the government.

Russia apparently has a deep history of spending enormous numbers of lives for military victories. Unless something changed I wouldn't rely on casualty numbers to indicate if they are close to breaking.