Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Russia’s 1.2 million casualties in Ukraine dwarf all its conflicts since World War II, report says
CNN ^ | Jan 28, 2026 | Brad Lendon

Posted on 01/29/2026 2:36:04 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

About 1.2 million Russian troops have been killed, wounded or are missing since its invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago, a rate of casualties for a major military power not seen since World War II, a new report from a prominent international think tank says.

And the enormous human toll has secured relatively small territorial gains on the battlefield, with Russia increasing the amount of Ukrainian land under its control by just 12% since 2022, the report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) says.

The report calls into question assumptions in many circles, including in the White House, that a Russian victory in Ukraine is inevitable and incoming.

“Russia has the upper hand,” US President Donald Trump said in an interview with Politico last month.

“They’re much bigger. They’re much stronger… At some point, size will win,” Trump said.

But the CSIS report says Ukraine retains a significant advantage as the defensive side on the battlefield.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Russia; Ukraine
KEYWORDS: azovrecruitersonline; bleedingrussia; gaytor; ibtg; meatgrinder; mostrustednameinnews; officialdemnarrative; quagmire; russiancasualities; russianimperialism; russianinvasion; showyourwork; stalled; ukrainianpropaganda; wastedlife; zeepharderforvictory
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-60 next last

1 posted on 01/29/2026 2:36:04 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

“Prominent GLOBALIST think tank”

In other words, if they claim Russia lost 1.2 million men, the real number is probably 12,000

Meanwhile this same (((think tank))) claims Ukraine lost 600,000, which means 6 million is more likely the real number


2 posted on 01/29/2026 2:38:31 PM PST by mitchjackson1972 (End usury - It's OK to be white - https://ussliberty.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

what have the ratios been on recent body exchanges?


3 posted on 01/29/2026 2:43:46 PM PST by Stingray51 ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mitchjackson1972


In other words, if they claim Russia lost 1.2 million men, the real number is probably 12,000

Meanwhile this same (((think tank))) claims Ukraine lost 600,000, which means 6 million is more likely the real number”

What a silly post. I have to ask what were you thinking?

Here is the source:


Despite claims of battlefield momentum in Ukraine, the data shows that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for minimal gains and is in decline as a major power. Since February 2022, Russian forces have suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties, more losses than any major power in any war since World War II. At current rates, combined Russian and Ukrainian casualties could reach 2 million by the spring of 2026. After seizing the initiative in 2024, Russian forces have advanced at an average rate of between 15 and 70 meters per day in their most prominent offensives, slower than almost any major offensive campaign in any war in the last century. Meanwhile, Russia’s war economy is under mounting strain, with manufacturing declining, slowing growth of 0.6 percent in 2025, and no globally competitive technology firms to help drive long-term productivit

https://www.csis.org/analysis/russias-grinding-war-ukraine


4 posted on 01/29/2026 2:47:54 PM PST by TexasGator (I1i')
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: TexasGator

Nobody believes that globalist leftist propaganda


5 posted on 01/29/2026 2:50:03 PM PST by mitchjackson1972 (End usury - It's OK to be white - https://ussliberty.org/)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: mitchjackson1972

Hard to say. He first casualty of war is truth... Or so I heard. But still after years, there are millions of young Ukrainian and Russian men dead for scraps of farm land. Sadly, the EU and NATO will see them all dead just to embarrass Trump. And Trump is the only world leader trying to end this meat grinder.


6 posted on 01/29/2026 2:50:09 PM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
From the just released letter (written in Dec. 2025) purportedly from arrested Chinese General Zhang Youxia:

"I passively supported Xi's so-called no limits backing of Russia, which in reality meant supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That decision turned all of Europe and Ukraine in particular against China. We overestimated Russia's strength. We believed a lightning war would quickly take Ukraine and that Russia would then support us in taking Taiwan. What happened instead? Both Russia and Ukraine resent us."
7 posted on 01/29/2026 2:53:10 PM PST by Chad_the_Impaler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

BS. As usual.


8 posted on 01/29/2026 2:54:11 PM PST by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mitchjackson1972

I certainly don’t believe globalist propaganda, and both sides’ statements are ever even marginally true in this particular conflict.

I do know, that I was taught in War college that the attacking side in this kind of war generally has a 5:1 casualty rate.

So, if anything, Russia is ahead of the game if Ukraines number is 600k.


9 posted on 01/29/2026 2:59:09 PM PST by TheThirdRuffian (Orange is the new brown)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Stingray51
---- "what have the ratios been on recent body exchanges?"

Latest seems to have been a thousand Ukrainian dead for 38 Russian dead, each and every one of them a tragic death. War is war.

10 posted on 01/29/2026 3:00:37 PM PST by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
And what are the Ukraine losses?

We know that 8 million Ukrainians left the country, with a claim of over 4.5 million people having returned to Ukraine from abroad since the war began, which is still a 3.5 million loss.

11 posted on 01/29/2026 3:00:38 PM PST by Robert DeLong
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Stingray51

“what have the ratios been on recent body exchanges?”

The numbers don’t mean anything on the Ukraine side. They will only take 1,000 a month, so that’s what they get. You can look back in time to see the pattern. Russia receives about 35-40 a month. That’s up to November, haven’t seen December yet. The number of wounded outnumbers the dead, and most wounded can’t return to service. There are no reliable numbers I know of for wounded from either side.


12 posted on 01/29/2026 3:03:50 PM PST by SaxxonWoods (Annnd....I voted for this too!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: mitchjackson1972

The number is total BS and CNN reports as fact.


13 posted on 01/29/2026 3:08:04 PM PST by gibsonguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
It's amusing that the CNN staff needs to burnish with "a prominent international think tank" before naming the CSIS, which is at 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Think tanks. This one ks special.

Center For Strategic And International Studies Inc a 501(c)3 nonprofit squeaking by on a mere $200 million dollars.

Poor John Hamre, CEO, pulls in a paltry $600K+. Between the fat cats and other salaries, they spend over $35 million plus bennies and expenses.

Why that's better than what CNN pays most of top fat cats.... by a buck or two. Breaking news....

14 posted on 01/29/2026 3:08:56 PM PST by Worldtraveler once upon a time (Degrow government)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
Ukraine receives 1,000 bodies in latest soldier swap with Russia (Russia receive 38)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9jl8vxdy9o

15 posted on 01/29/2026 3:10:57 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ( Klaatu barada nikto.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SaxxonWoods

These poor boys are being blowed up, killed and wounded and Trump is the only man trying to end this war. The EU and our useless NaTO trash “allies will have every Ukraine boy die just to embarrass Trump. THIS is the Biden legacy. Death destruction and war. This war is a shame.


16 posted on 01/29/2026 3:26:53 PM PST by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

17 posted on 01/29/2026 3:27:57 PM PST by Apparatchik (Русские свиньи, идите домой)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

You really are a gullible sadsack.


18 posted on 01/29/2026 3:32:43 PM PST by CodeToad
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican
Only a moron this propaganda when the body exchange rate is 1000 to 38 in Russia's favor.

There is no scenario where the Ukrainians haven't suffered five times as many deaths. Yet, there is no chance even Ukraine has lost six million troops.

Mediazonia, run by a Russian dissent with help from the pro-Ukrainian BBC, can still only document 163,606 Russian deaths total in the entire war.

19 posted on 01/29/2026 3:33:24 PM PST by Kazan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MinorityRepublican

Seems high.


20 posted on 01/29/2026 3:38:15 PM PST by libertylover (The HBM (Has Been Media) is almost all AGENDA-DRIVEN and HATE-DRIVEN, not-truth driven.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-60 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson