NATO official: Russia losing 35,000 troops monthly in Ukraine

Russia is suffering losses of around 35,000 troops per month in its war against Ukraine, a senior NATO official has said, underlining the scale of attrition facing Moscow more than four years into the conflict.

In an interview with NATO-affiliated media, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the alliance’s Military Committee, said the casualty rate now exceeds the Soviet Union’s total losses during the decade-long Soviet-Afghan War.

“There is a stalemate on the battlefield, but Russia is paying an enormous price every single day,” Dragone said, describing the scale of losses as “unbelievable.”

The remarks highlight NATO’s assessment that while front lines in Ukraine have largely stabilised, the war is increasingly defined by a grinding war of attrition. According to Dragone, Moscow’s strategy appears to rely on sustaining high levels of manpower despite mounting casualties.

The admiral suggested that such losses could ultimately weaken Russia’s ability to continue the war, pointing to economic and military exhaustion as a key pathway to ending the conflict. “The way to defeat Russia is to exhaust its capacity to wage war,” he said.

Despite the heavy toll, Dragone warned that Russia continues to rebuild its military capabilities and remains the alliance’s primary security threat. He added that NATO expects the Kremlin to pursue broader ambitions beyond Ukraine, potentially seeking to reassert influence over territories it controlled prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

NATO officials say Ukraine’s battlefield experience—particularly in countering drones and adapting to high-intensity warfare—is now being incorporated into alliance strategy, even as the conflict shows no immediate signs of a decisive breakthrough.

Responding to a question on a possible strategy for Ukraine to achieve success, the head of the NATO Military Committee pointed to the need to exhaust Russia’s resources and its economy to a level at which continuing the war becomes unsustainable.

"If the fight in the Strait of Hormuz comes to an end, we will need to rewind and go back to sanctions and on. And that's my hope," he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev