Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Russian army has lost more than 900,000 people, of whom 250,000 have been killed, NATO says. At the same time, Russia continues to recruit enough people to make up for its losses.
According to NATO data, since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has lost more than 900,000 military personnel, of whom 250,000 have been killed. Many of the wounded servicemen have suffered lifelong disabilities due to poor medical care, a senior NATO official said at a briefing on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
The Russian army continues to lose more than 1,000 people a day - killed and wounded, but the recruitment of new recruits is currently covering the losses, NATO sources say. "The progress of Russian troops in Ukraine is slowing, losses are growing, but the Russian authorities are ready to suffer heavy losses in the future for the sake of slow successes," the official summed up. He does not believe that Russian society has reached the stage where it will no longer be ready to accept this.
NATO sees no signs of a truce on the battlefield
NATO estimates that the situation on the battlefield remains very complex. It is assumed that Russia will continue to increase pressure on the Ukrainian army at the front and throughout the territory of Ukraine in order to prolong the war and increase its advantage for success in the negotiations. The advantage is still not on the side of Ukraine, Russia maintains its advantage and dynamics, and is trying to profit at the expense of the deficits in the Ukrainian army.
"There are no signs on the battlefield that the Russians are preparing for a ceasefire", the senior NATO official stressed. "We see no signs of a change in Russia's goals in the war."
Russia is expected to push Ukraine out of the Kursk region
Ukraine has lost 90 percent of the territory it previously captured in the Kursk region. NATO information states that the Ukrainian army holds less than 100 sq. km. Russia has regained full control over the city of Sudzha, which the Alliance explains by its numerical superiority: there are now about 70,000 Russian soldiers in the Kursk region.
In addition, the North Korean military has been involved in the liberation of the region, of which there are currently 11,000 in the region. NATO has information that 3,500 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia for training in the winter. The North Korean military has also suffered serious losses - 5,000 people, of whom 1,500 were killed.
The Alliance's forecasts are that Russia will be able to completely push the Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region. The NATO official told reporters he did not know whether the Ukrainian troop withdrawal from Sudzha was related to the U.S. intelligence cutoff, but said the week-long pause had affected Ukraine's defense efforts.
A peace deal should not simply buy Russia time
Russia's proposals at the negotiating table and its approach to them have not changed, NATO said. Moscow's actions demonstrate its certainty that time is on its side, the senior official said. "We doubt Putin is entering negotiations with good intentions. I am not sure Putin is ready to negotiate in a spirit of goodwill."
NATO's position is to achieve a just and sustainable peace in Ukraine. "Whatever peace deal is reached, it must not allow Russia to simply buy time," the NATO official summed up.