One of the most reputable security analysis centers, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), has published its assessment of russia’s losses in the war against Ukraine as part of its annual reference book, The Military Balance 2025.
According to IISS, from the beginning of the aggression in February 2022 to early January 2025, tussia has lost at least 783,000 soldiers and officers. This includes 172,000 killed and 611,000 wounded, of whom 376,000 sustained severe injuries resulting in disability and an inability to continue military service. The remaining 235,000 suffered recoverable wounds and returned to duty.
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Defense Express notes that, as of December 31, 2024, the official statistics from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine estimate russia's manpower losses at 789,550 personnel without categorization. This means the discrepancy between the sources is minimal and within the margin of statistical error.
Another notable aspect is the graph tracking the size of the occupying forces. The peak of over 650,000 personnel occurred in April 2024, after which a decline began. According to IISS estimates, russia currently maintains a force of 617,000 troops. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) estimated in February 2024 that russian ground forces totaled 470,000 troops, with an additional 33,000 personnel from the russian National Guard (Rosgvardia), excluding aviation and naval components.
Regarding armored vehicle losses, analysts estimate that Ukraine's Defense Forces have disabled approximately 1,400 main battle tanks and over 3,700 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers of the russian army. In total, from February 24, 2022, to the end of December 2024, russia’s armored vehicle losses amounted to around 14,000 units.
Additionally, tank losses by type over the entire period have been calculated. According to estimates, russia has lost approximately 2,130 T-72 tanks, 1,475 T-80s, 335 T-62s, 257 T-90s, 146 T-64s, and 10 T-55s. Defense Express notes that this generally reflects the distribution of specific tank types within the enemy’s forces.
At the same time, the term "losses" does not necessarily mean the complete destruction of equipment beyond repair. It also includes cases where tanks and other armored vehicles were damaged and withdrawn for repairs. According to IISS, in 2024, russia managed to repair damaged tanks, restore some from reserves, and produce more than 1,500 tanks and over 2,800 IFVs and APCs from scratch.
It is worth noting that a comparison with data from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on enemy armored vehicle losses reveals a significant discrepancy. According to the General Staff, from February 2022 to the end of 2024, russia's total declared armored vehicle losses amount to 29,698 units. In 2024 alone, this includes 3,685 tanks and 8,943 armored fighting vehicles. This large discrepancy may, for example, be explained by differing classification methods regarding the level of damage required for a vehicle to be considered a loss.
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