Putin’s Army Has Just Had Two of The ‘Most Costly’ Months Of War, UK Says

Vladimir Putin’s army has just endured two of its “most costly” months of war, according to the UK.

The ministry of defence (MoD) announced in its latest update on social media that January 2025 was “likely the second most costly month” for Russia after its forces sustained a staggering 48,240 casualties.

The Mod put the average daily casualty rate at around 1,556.

But the worst period of loss for the Russian army was December 2024, when casualties hit 48,670, according to reports from the Ukraine’s General Staff shared by the MoD.

The intelligence officers believe average daily loss rate was therefore a little higher in December, reaching 1,570 per day.

The MoD said that is “the highest average daily casualty rate of the conflict thus far” – although it does not look like that number will drastically drop any time soon.

Putin’s troops has already sustained a staggering 50,000 casualties just in the first six weeks of 2025.

The MoD also claimed Russia has endured more than 837,000 casualties since invading Ukraine in February 2022, almost three years ago.

The MoD said: “Russia’s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1,000 a day in February 2025, reflecting the high tempo of Russian operations and offensives.”

These are all estimates as Russia does not regularly reveal its casualty rate.

Ukraine normally keeps its losses to itself too, but its president Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently announced his army had lost more than 45,100 throughout the war, with another 390,000 injured since the war began.

The shocking number is still much lower than the estimates for their Russian opponents.

Putin had already been accused of using “meat-grinder tactics” by UK prime minister Keir Starmer last autumn, but he now seems to be forcing his troops to push forward into Ukraine, even if there’s an even greater rate of loss, after Donald Trump’s election.

The US president has made it clear he wants to end the Ukraine war but is much more sympathetic to Putin than other western allies.

This has sparked fears Trump may force Ukraine to cede any occupied land to Russia in a potential peace deal – and at the moment, Moscow controls around a fifth of its beleaguered neighbour.