Russia and Vladimir Putin‘s “phenomenal loss” during the war in Ukraine has been laid bare, with more than 465,000 soldiers killed or wounded on the battlefield since the bitter conflict began.
Ankur Narayan told the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe meeting in Vienna that in May, it has been estimated that Russian casualties have been “over 1,000 per day”, or 30,000 a month.
Britain’s politico-military counsellor at the UK delegation to the group described that as “the highest rate it has been since the start of this war”.
Speaking on May 29, he added that to fund its war machine, the Kremlin has ramped up defence spending.
He also noted that Ukraine has liberated 70,000 square miles of land seized by Russia during the first days of illegal invasion in February 2022.
The eastern European nation has dealt heavy blows to the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea and successfully resumed maritime exports from its Black Sea ports, he added.
Mr Nayaran said: “To summarise, President Putin is now over two years into a war he thought would take three days. He is no closer to his goal of subjugating Ukraine.
“Instead, Russia has suffered nearly half a million casualties, and lost a great proportion of its land and sea forces.
“Economists do not need to be reminded about sunk cost fallacy. Seen objectively, the numbers point to a phenomenal loss for a country like Russia – in Russian lives, materiel and credibility.”
Mr Narayan also referred to newly appointed Russian defence minister Andrei Belousov’s goal for “minimal human losses” in the war against Ukraine.
Mr Nayaran said: “There is a simple way to minimise human losses. Russia chose to start this war. Russia can choose to end it.
“Ukraine has the right to defend itself. We will continue to stand resolutely with Ukraine. Russia should respect the UN Charter, end its war, and withdraw all of its forces from all of Ukraine.”