Ukraine Maps Show Battles Russia Lost 11,000 Troops Last Month

Russian forces lost 11,000 military personnel across the front lines in eastern Ukraine in November, a Ukrainian official said Thursday.

The figure was provided by Ukrainian Ground Forces Command Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Volodymyr Fityo, who said the Russian losses occurred in the directions of Kupiansk, a city in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, and the cities of Lyman and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington D.C.-based think tank, published maps on Thursday showing advances made by Russia and Ukraine in the areas.

Russian forces have been ramping up their offensives around the eastern cities as the winter weather sets in, pushing to make substantial progress in the war ahead of an expected announcement by President Vladimir Putin that he will run for re-election in 2024.

Newsweek could not independently verify the battlefield figures and has reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry on Friday for comment via email.

The ISW assessed Thursday that Moscow may be suffering losses along the entire front in Ukraine at a rate close to the rate at which Russia is currently generating new forces.

The operational tempo in the Kupiansk, Lyman, and Bakhmut directions is currently lower than in the direction of the eastern Donetsk town of Avdiivka.

"These reported losses suggest that the Russian casualty rate in the Avdiivka area may be even higher given the higher operational tempo there," the think tank said.

British defense officials have said that Moscow's heavy losses have largely been caused by Russia's offensive against Avdiivka. Estimates of casualty figures vary, with Kyiv's figures usually exceeding those of Western countries.

A joint investigation by the BBC's Russian Service and independent Russian news outlet Mediazona on November 17 identified the names of 37,052 Russian military personnel who have died in the war in Ukraine. It said that the actual number of losses was higher than the figures stated in the investigation.

Russia itself rarely releases figures on troop losses. In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 of Moscow's troops had been killed in the war.

Kyiv similarly does not release updated death tolls. In April, a leaked U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment said that Kyiv had suffered 124,500 to 131,000 casualties, including 15,500 to 17,500 dead.

The British defense ministry said in an intelligence update on November 27 that the last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.

"Throughout November 2023, Russian casualties, as reported by the Ukrainian General Staff, are running at a daily average of 931 per day," British defense officials said, noting that the heavy losses have largely been caused by Russia's offensive against Avdiivka.

The ISW said high Russian casualties will likely prevent Russian forces from fully replenishing and reconstituting existing units in Ukraine and forming new operational and strategic reserves if Russian force generation efforts continue at current rates while the Russian military continues operations.

"Russia does appear able to continue absorbing such losses and making them good with new recruits," the think tank said.

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