Four years into the war, the majority of the professional russian Ground Forces that started the war has been attritted. This has forced russia to rely on a large mass of low-quality personnel to continue to prosecute the war against Ukraine, the UK Defense Intelligence reports.
As part of this transition to mass, russia is restructuring its forces back to a division force concept. However, due to the need to apply constant pressure on the frontline casualty rates remain high limiting russia's ability to fully form or reconstitute new and existing units.
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence: Ukraine Launches Counteroffensive Near Huliaipole, Reclaims 100 sq km
Russia's personnel casualties of over 1,250,000 killed and wounded have undermined russia's force quality. Most personnel currently serving in the russian military have received minimal training, forcing russian commanders to use basic tactics to make advances, despite the associated high casualty rates.
Russian forces have adapted their tactics with greater use of lightweight vehicles, unmanned aerial systems and infiltration groups, which has enabled the bypassing of Ukrainian defensive positions as well as disrupting Ukrainian logistics.
Despite the costs imposed on its ground forces, russia has been able to impose constant pressure on Ukrainian defences. Russian territorial advances in Ukraine accelerated through 2025 with a peak at the end of the year. Continued offensive operations have been underpinned by the russian leadership's tolerance for casualties, and the russian Ground Forces' quantitative overmatch relative to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As Defense Express previously reported, the Kremlin has formally blocked access to WhatsApp, telling reporters that the decision was taken because the platform failed to comply with russian law, particularly requirements for data access and cooperation with law enforcement and urging its roughly 100 million russian users to switch to a domestic alternative.
Read more: UK Defense Intelligence: Moscow Cuts Off WhatsApp, Promotes State-Backed Max Super-App
