By all accounts except the Kremlin’s, Russia is struggling with military manpower shortages as its invasion of Ukraine continues in its seventh month. Western estimates say Russia may have suffered 25,000 combat fatalities and as many as 80,000 total casualties so far in fighting that has achieved none of the Kremlin’s stated objectives.
Moscow, though, has shied away from declaring war and mobilizing its full military reserves, most likely out of fear of the domestic political consequences that could arise from sending men from urban areas or the professional classes into combat. Instead, Russia has relied largely on contract soldiers recruited from remote and impoverished regions.
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 128th Mountain Assault Brigade destroyed a Russian BMP IFV with artillery fire in #Kherson Oblast. pic.twitter.com/DwArkmnBhW
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) September 19, 2022
