Russia suffered record casualties in 2024, with Ukraine estimating 430,000 soldiers killed or wounded as Moscow’s forces captured less than 1 percent of Ukrainian territory during the year.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, Russian advances in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region totaled 4,168 square kilometers (1,609 square miles), or just 0.69 percent of the country. The findings were based on satellite imagery and geolocated video footage.
“Russian forces have seized four mid-sized settlements – Avdiivka, Selydove, Vuhledar, and Kurakhove – in all of 2024,” the ISW said, adding that the largest of these had a pre-war population of just over 31,000.
Despite significant efforts, including months-long battles for individual towns, Russian troops failed to achieve the rapid, mechanized maneuvers necessary for deeper territorial gains, the ISW noted. At this rate, the think tank projected, it could take Moscow two more years to complete its conquest of Donetsk alone, far beyond Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initial deadline of October 1.
Record Casualties Amid Stalled Advances
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, reported that Russian forces had suffered an estimated 427,000 casualties in 2024. Days later, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense revised the number to 430,790, surpassing Russia’s losses in 2022 and 2023 combined.
The average daily casualty rate was 1,180 soldiers, but losses escalated sharply in November and December, with 45,720 and 48,670 casualties respectively. Ukrainian officials linked the increased assaults to Russia’s apparent attempt to influence the U.S. presidential election.
“This year, the Russians paid the highest price for the war against Ukraine,” Syrskii said in a December 31 address, highlighting the destruction of more enemy equipment and manpower than in previous years.
Russia briefly doubled its daily land gains in November, but progress slowed again in December. During the final week of the year, Russian casualties reached approximately 1,700 killed and wounded daily, according to Ukrainian officials.
December also saw record losses for Moscow, with 2,010 soldiers killed on December 29 and an all-time high of 2,200 casualties on December 19 during 191 combat clashes.
Ukraine also reported significant destruction of Russian equipment, including 3,689 tanks, thousands of armored combat vehicles, and over 13,000 artillery systems. Ukraine’s navy claimed to have sunk five ships and 458 smaller vessels.
Amid manpower shortages, Russia reportedly recruited North Korean soldiers. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a quarter of these fighters had been killed, with more than 3,000 casualties in the Kursk region alone by late December.
Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of executing wounded North Korean soldiers to prevent their capture. “Their own people are executing them; there are such cases,” he said in a December 27 address.
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, GUR, reported that Russia was bringing additional North Korean fighters to Kursk to compensate for the losses.
