The russian forces engaged in the military invasion of Ukraine keep growing: contrary to the estimate in early 2024 of 462,000 troops deployed on Ukrainian territory plus 35,000 in the rear, the current contingent numbers 520,000. The updated assessment comes from The Guardian's recent interview with Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
By the end of 2024, Moscow aims to increase its invasion force to 690,000 military personnel, Syrskyi stated. That is, an overall increase of 170,000 over the next five months.
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However, Defense Express notes that this figure doesn't mean simply another 170,000 troops will join the ranks, it's much more, in fact. According to the Ukrainian army's General Staff, the daily losses of russian forces are estimated to be about a thousand men per day, therefore, by the end of the year approximately 160,000 personnel would be out of combat.
Considering this factor is taken into account, the russians expect to conscript another 330,000 to reach the set goal, which is roughly 66,000 a month or 2,000 a day. The numbers also align with the earlier comments by Ukraine's President Zelenskyi about Moscow's plan to draft 300,000 troops starting June 1st.
General Syrskyi also mentioned the statistics related to the current stock of equipment and weapons at russia's disposal: 3,500 tanks and 8,900 other armored fighting vehicles. On a note from Defense Express, the original text says "armored personnel carriers," though most likely, this figure refers to the totality of various vehicles, including not only APCs but also BMP, BMD infantry fighting vehicles, MT-LB multipurpose vehicles, etc. The Commander-in-Chief said artillery systems have tripled but without specifics on the relevant or earlier numbers.
Read more: russia Experiences Problems with Mobilization in Crimea
