Russia loses more soldiers in Ukraine in a month than the USSR did in 10 years in Afghanistan - Zelensky

Photo: пресс-фото

Russia loses more servicemen in the war against Ukraine in one month than the Soviet Union did in ten years of war in Afghanistan, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to LETA citing TVP.

On Monday, launching an initiative to assess the activities of Ukrainian drone units, Zelensky emphasized that modern warfare depends on "who is faster and more effective in using and adapting technologies." He noted that Ukraine is already a world leader in conducting combat operations using drones and that by 2025, Ukrainian units had attacked more than 800,000 Russian targets. Most of the drones used by Ukraine are produced domestically.

Zelensky stated that in December 2025, 35,000 Russian soldiers were killed or severely wounded, adding that over ten years of war in Afghanistan, the Soviet Army lost half as many.

Nevertheless, the President of Ukraine emphasized that the Ukrainian army must reach a level where Russia's monthly losses exceed its ability to replenish its troops — estimated at around 50,000 new soldiers per month.

"This is certainly a challenging goal, but this is the threshold after which Russia will begin to reassess its actions and the reasons for the war," Zelensky believes. He also highlighted the importance of further developing systems to counter Russian drones.

Last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelensky reported that in 2025, the monthly number of killed or severely wounded Russian soldiers increased from 14,000 to 35,000. He added that despite a mobilization of 40,000–43,000 people per month, Russia began to lose up to 45,000 soldiers.

"Of these 43,000, about 10–15% desert, there are also the wounded (...). It is evident that their army is no longer growing, and this is thanks to our drone technologies and UAV operators," noted Zelensky.

These figures align with data from the UK Ministry of Defence, which reported in November 2025 that since the beginning of the previous year, 382,000 Russian soldiers had been killed or severely wounded — an average of about 34,700 per month.

According to the UK Ministry of Defence, since February 2022, when Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, approximately 1,225,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded.

In 2025, Russia captured less than 1% of Ukraine's territory, reported at the end of the year by the Ukrainian analytical center DeepState, which monitors the course of hostilities.