Russia suffers highest soldier casualty rate since start of Ukraine invasion

Russia has suffered the greatest casualty figures among its troops in February since the first week of the invasion, according to data shared by Ukraine’s General staff. 

The data shows that around 824 Russian soldiers are dying every day in Ukraine this month. During the first month of the war, Ukraine was reporting around 1,140 deaths of Russian soldiers per day. However, the figures fell to an average of less than 200 for the subsequent months. 

"The Ukrainian General Staff releases daily statistics on Russian casualties. Although Defense Intelligence cannot verify Ukraine's methodology, the trends the data illustrate are likely accurate,” said the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense.

“The uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including lack of trained personnel, coordination, and resources across the front,” U.K. Defense said.

The number of casualties comes after Russia is preparing for a “big offensive” around its one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, according to Western officials. As part of the offensive, the Kremlin has accelerated its operations in several regions of Ukraine and appears to be making “marginal advances” in the region. 

However, the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC), Oleksiy Danilov, said that Russia is encountering “big problems” with its latest campaign. 

"Our troops are repulsing [the offensive] very strongly," he said. "The offensive they planned is already taking place, gradually, but it's not the offensive they imagined."

Ukraine’s military claims that 137,780 Russian soldiers have died since the invasion began on February 24.