Russia has lost more than 50,000 personnel, including 28,000 soldiers killed in September, according to a NATO official. This is the highest figure recorded in 2026 and aligns with data from Ukraine's General Staff, which estimates 46,230 Russian personnel losses.
Losses rise by nearly half since January
According to the General Staff, Russian personnel losses have risen from 31,710 in January to 46,230 in September - an increase of nearly 46%. Ukraine's Armed Forces suffered 5,000 casualties during the month, the unnamed NATO official told Bloomberg.
The figures on both sides cannot be independently verified, as neither Ukrainian nor Russian officials rarely comment on the number of losses on the battlefield.
Kyiv's strategic goal of attrition
Inflicting heavy personnel losses has become a stated strategic objective of Ukraine. In January, then-Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Ukraine aimed to "kill 50,000 Russians per month," arguing that losses on that scale could undermine Moscow's ability to sustain the war.
Signs of Russian mobilisation
The losses come amid signs that Russia is preparing for mobilisation. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have repeatedly said that Russian authorities are preparing a new wave of mobilisation after the State Duma elections, which took place in September.
Unlike in 2022, the Kremlin now has quieter ways to expand its ranks through sustained recruitment, conscription, pressure on potential recruits and coercive mobilisation in occupied Ukraine. In June, authorities in the Penza region conducted raids to detain local men and pressure them into signing military contracts, The Moscow Times reports.
Recruiting students and civilians
The country also needs those with special expertise to keep fighting. For this reason, Moscow is increasingly treating lecture halls as a recruitment pool, offering university students vast financial incentives to join drone units as operators and engineers.
Separately, civilian recruiters are targeting people in financial difficulty - such as debtors and the unemployed - through job advertisements, agencies and personal contacts.
As a result, an increasing number of Russians are considering leaving the country. Requests to leave for Georgia and Armenia - countries Russians can enter without visas - and subsequent legalisation in the EU on standard grounds have risen sharply.
