With Russian Wounded Evacuation "Unlikely," 62% of 100,000 Recent Casualties Dead

Russian losses have become so severe - 100,000 casualties over the past three months, 62% of whom are dead - that morale among frontline troops is declining, according to Russia's own assessment. 

Russian troops are aware that if they are wounded, evacuation is unlikely. An unofficial soldiers' guide, obtained by Ukrainian intelligence, advises troops to 'finish off your wounded comrade, then yourself.'

The ratio of wounded to killed in battle is historically about 2 wounded for every one killed - the opposite of the current Russian experience in Ukraine. That the battlefield has become so lethal for Russian soldiers at this point in the war and that the bleak forecast is known to Russian troops, suggests a degraded military capability. JL

The New Voice of Ukraine reports:

As of mid-March, Russia lost nearly 100,000 troops on the front line over the previous three months. Constant pressure from fiber-optic drones, precision bomb drops, and artillery has created conditions in which Russian troops increasingly understand that evacuation is unlikely. A new unofficial “instruction manual” circulating within Russia’s army advises: finish off your wounded comrade, then take your own life. Russia's own battlefield loss ratio has shifted so that of 100% of Russia’s total battlefield losses, 62% are killed and 38% are wounded. 90% of Russian losses on the battlefield were caused by Ukrainian drones.

A new unofficial “instruction manual” appears to be circulating within Russia’s occupying army: finish off your wounded comrade, then take your own life, Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces said on March 22 as they published a video they said showed the practice. The military warned that the footage contains disturbing images.

“A real conveyor belt of self-destruction — this is the occupiers’ new ‘manual,’” the Air Assault Forces said. “It is brutally simple and terrifying at the same time: finish off your wounded comrade and then put a bullet in your own head.”

According to the Ukrainian military, constant pressure from fiber-optic drones, precision bomb drops, and artillery has created conditions in which Russian troops increasingly understand that evacuation is unlikely. 

“While Ukraine’s Armed Forces fight for every life and pull their own soldiers out of the hottest positions, the enemy is simply erasing itself — platoon by platoon,” the statement said.

In February, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said that in 2025 Russia’s battlefield losses had, for the first time, exceeded the number of new recruits it was able to mobilize.

Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has said one of the goals set by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is to eliminate 50,000 Russian troops per month.

On March 10, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had obtained important documents showing how Russia assesses its own battlefield losses. According to him, the ratio has shifted so that of 100% of Russia’s total battlefield losses, 62% are killed and 38% are wounded.

On March 17, Zelenskyy said Russia had lost nearly 100,000 troops on the front line over the previous three months. He added that 90% of Russian losses on the battlefield were caused by Ukrainian drones.

As of the morning of March 22, according to Ukraine’s General Staff, Russia lost about 940 troops over the previous day. Since Feb. 24, 2022, Russia’s total losses are estimated at 1,287,880 personnel