Ukraine: The Russian army lost more than 46,000 troops in September, setting a new monthly high this year

The Ukrainian military pointed out on the 1st that it estimated that the Russian army lost 46,230 troops in September, which not only hit a new monthly high this year, but also increased by nearly 46% from January. This number is also close to Ukraine’s publicly stated goal of "killing 50,000 Russian troops every month."

The Kyiv Independent reported that the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces released statistics on the 1st. The number of Russian military losses in September was higher than the 42,860 in July and 42,020 in August. Compared with the 31,710 in January this year, the number of military losses in September increased by 14,520, an increase of about 45.8%. "This development demonstrates the complete inability of the military leadership of the occupying forces to achieve their operational objectives, as well as the increasing precision and efficiency of Ukrainian forces' strikes," the Ukrainian Army's General Staff issued a statement.

Causing huge troop losses to the Russian army is one of Ukraine's publicly stated strategic goals. In January this year, then-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that Ukraine’s goal was to “kill 50,000 Russian troops every month,” adding that such a scale of casualties could weaken Moscow’s ability to continue the war. The number of Russian military losses in September was the closest this year to the aforementioned target.

At the same time, as the Russian army maintains its frontline offensive, it also faces pressure to replenish its troops. The Ukrainian Army General Staff pointed out that in December 2025, for the first time, Russian military losses exceeded the number of new recruits. As the Kremlin seeks to continue the war without announcing a new wave of mobilization, maintaining the balance of forces has become an increasingly important issue. Janis Kluge, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), pointed out based on Russian local budget data that Russia signed approximately 234,000 new military employment contracts in the first eight months of this year, down from 260,000 in the same period last year.

Uzbek intelligence agencies also pointed out that the Russian General Staff is preparing to mobilize about 300,000 people this year and another 300,000 people next year if necessary. Uzbek President Zelenskiy said in July that more than 1.5 million troops had been killed or injured since Russia invaded Uzbekistan. However, these casualty figures cannot be independently verified, and Moscow has not released complete troop casualty data.