Russia plugs the front with foreigners: what do the new loss figures mean

Statements from Western ministers increasingly sound the same: Moscow’s personnel attrition rates exceed its replenishment capabilities. Against this backdrop, the very structure of the army is changing — the share of mercenaries and contractors from abroad is growing.

This was stated in a conversation with Bloomberg by the head of the British Ministry of Defense John Healey, relying on data exchange with Kyiv and allies. The formula is simple: people are lost faster than they can be found.

The front remains the same — about 1200 kilometers of constant tension. There are no breakthroughs that could change the strategic picture. However, the cost of holding positions is growing.

Who Moscow brings instead of mobilization

According to Healey, the Ukrainian side informed partners: in recent months, strikes on Russian units have yielded results that undermine the personnel replenishment system. Hence, the increasing reliance on foreigners.

We are talking about recruits from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. People who are often lured with promises of work and then transferred to military contracts.

A separate line — servicemen from North Korea. The British minister estimated their number at about 17 thousand.

This is no longer an episode, but a model.

Why the Kremlin avoids a new wave of conscription

Kyiv’s goal, as Healey recounted, is to bring monthly Russian losses to a level where the system will have to resort to unpopular measures again.

This refers to mobilization.

After the 2022 campaign, when hundreds of thousands of men left the country, Moscow remembers the social effect well. Therefore, the focus is on money, prisons, regions, and foreign recruitment channels.

This is where many Israeli analysts, with whom Nikk.Agency regularly works — Israel News | Nikk.Agency, pay attention: the more expensive a citizen becomes for the authorities, the more actively those who are not pitied or visible within the country are used.

A bill that cannot be hidden

Official figures are not published by Moscow. But the cumulative estimates of Ukraine’s allies are becoming more detailed.

According to information voiced by Western representatives, only last year Russia could have lost hundreds of thousands killed and wounded. The overall scale since the start of the full-scale war has long exceeded a million.

In January, sources claim, the difference between losses and replenishment was about nine thousand people.

President Volodymyr Zelensky named an even harsher figure — up to 30 thousand dead per month. At the Munich Security Conference he stated it directly: a limit exists, the question is only when it will become a political factor.

What drones change

A separate topic — technology.

Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi emphasizes that drones have effectively expanded the active combat zone by dozens of kilometers. This affects logistics, survivability, and the intensity of losses.

Western officers note a sharp change in the ratio — in some places up to several dozen Russian soldiers per one Ukrainian.

The numbers are disputed. But the trend, they say, is stable.

The war of attrition will continue

Despite the pressure, allies do not expect a quick collapse. Recruitment, military industry, and the help of partners like China allow the Kremlin to maintain the pace.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned: even a possible pause in hostilities will give Moscow time to accelerate rearmament. The threat to Europe will not disappear.

Meanwhile, Russian units continue attacks in certain areas of the Donetsk region and do not cease strikes on Ukraine’s energy sector.

Healey summarized harshly: the image of continuous offensive is created, but the dependence on external resources is becoming more noticeable.

An army that fights with others’ forces is always a sign of internal deficit.