Russia has suffered its most devastating losses of the Ukraine war, with December 2024 and January 2025 marking the bloodiest months of the conflict, reports suggest.
According to figures from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, Vladimir Putin's forces lost 48,670 personnel in December and 48,240 in January.
These staggering casualties are thought to include soldiers who were killed, wounded, captured or went missing during the ongoing conflict.
Meanwhile, a disturbing report reveals Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since 2022.
A disturbing report reveals Russia has deported at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since 2022
Reuters
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor on Children's Issues, Daria Herasymchuk, disclosed the information on February 2, noting that Ukraine has managed to repatriate 1,189 children.
The repatriation efforts have received support from humanitarian organisations and several countries, including Qatar, South Africa, and the Vatican.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports that Russian authorities have been systematically killing Ukrainian parents and kidnapping their children.
These children are then transported to what Russia calls "rehabilitation" or "evacuation" camps in occupied Crimea, according to Herasymchuk.
According to the ISW, these camps are used to indoctrinate and militarise Ukrainian children before deporting them to Russia for adoption.
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Ukraine's Regional Human Rights Centre has identified 13 such institutions in Crimea alone.
Russia's latest losses come as forces continue their offensives in the Kursk and Donetsk regions.
These latest figures bring Russia's total losses since the invasion began to 841,660 personnel, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
The casualty rate averages 1,556 Russian personnel per day during these two months.
These figures do not include North Korean troops, who were deployed to the conflict zone in late 2024 as part of an agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Western officials believe approximately 11,000 North Korean troops were sent to aid Russia's war effort, with around 1,000 already killed.
Ukrainian intelligence reports that North Korean troops have not been seen on the frontline for over a fortnight.
Russian President Vladimir PutinReutersThe ISW warns that Russian authorities are increasingly attempting to mobilise Ukrainian teenage boys into their military, which violates the Geneva Convention.
Experts note that under Article 2 of the United Nations Genocide Convention, "forcibly transferring children of a group to another group" constitutes an act of genocide.
The ISW states it has extensively documented Russia's "crimes" in occupied Ukraine, including the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
Russian occupation authorities continue to forcibly mobilise Ukrainian civilians into their military forces.
Ukraine's Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) reported on February 2 that approximately 300 Ukrainian civilians from occupied Kherson and Zaporizhia regions were deployed to the Russian military.
These forced deployments occurred between October 31 and December 31, 2024.
