Putin Losing 1,500 Soldiers Daily in Fight Against Ukraine – UK’s Chief of Defence

Russian forces experienced an average of approximately 1,500 casualties per day in Ukraine throughout October, according to the UK’s Chief of Defence Staff.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin stated that the Russian people were bearing an “extraordinary price” for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, noting that October marked the highest monthly losses since the conflict began in February 2022.

‘Russia is about to suffer 700,000 people killed or wounded – the enormous pain and suffering that the Russian nation is having to bear because of Putin’s ambition,’ he told the Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He noted that although Russia was making some gains and exerting pressure on Ukraine, these losses were incurred “for tiny increments of land.”

He highlighted that the war’s cost, which he estimated at over 40 percent of Russia’s public expenditure on defense and security, is also “an enormous drain” on the country.

Despite uncertainties around US support for Ukraine following the election of President-elect Donald Trump, Sir Tony emphasized that Western allies would stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

‘That’s the message President Putin has to absorb and the reassurance for President Zelensky,’ he said.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Sir Tony stated that the rising threat from authoritarian states—including Russia, North Korea, and the Iranian-backed Houthi movement in Yemen—is placing the international community “under immense strain.”

‘This is a new era of competition and contest that will last for decades and has the potential to be more disruptive to our economy and our security than anything Britain has experienced in modern times,’ he wrote.

This statement follows NATO Secretary-General’s recent remarks that President Putin has lost more than 600,000 troops in Ukraine, pushing him to increasingly depend on foreign support for his invasion.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated that due to these heavy losses, North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia’s Kursk region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has also claimed that North Korea is training 10,000 soldiers to assist Russia.

‘The deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea is a threat to both Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic security,’ Rutte told reporters after NATO officials and diplomats received a briefing from a South Korean delegation.

Ukrainian forces launched a significant incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August and have maintained a presence there.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte described the North Korean deployment as “a significant escalation” of Pyongyang’s role in “Russia’s illegal war” in Ukraine, calling it a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a “dangerous expansion” of the conflict.

Rutte added that the deployment of North Korean troops signals “growing desperation” on Putin’s part.

‘Over 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in Putin’s war and he is unable to sustain his assault on Ukraine without foreign support,’ Rutte said.