Newly deployed Russian soldiers have a life expectancy of between 20 and 35 minutes once they reach frontline combat positions in Ukraine, it has been claimed.
The grim survival estimates come directly from pro-war Russian military bloggers and were detailed by historian Peter Frankopan in a Foreign Policy report.
These troops are then believed to have only been conscripted between 10 days and three weeks earlier – highlighting the shockingly high turnover that is demanded of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s army.
Historian and professor Peter Frankopan has added that Russia is also losing about eight soldiers for every Ukrainian killed – totalling about 30,000 Russian troops every month, per German newspaper Bild.
Generous sign-up bonuses of up to £60,000 for Russian civilians have also been reported, in efforts to encourage men to enlist for the Kremlin’s meatgrinder missions.
Last month, GCHQ said that Russia had lost almost half a million soldiers in the war in Ukraine – a figure which was far higher than previous estimates of 350,000 deaths.
It would mean that more than 300 soldiers a day have lost their lives since Moscow launched the invasion on February 24, 2022.
By comparison, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that around 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died since the start of the war.
Following a recent Russian tactic which sees soldiers crawl with their arms for miles through pipes to reach Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian sergeant ‘Tovsty’ of the Khartiia Brigade has similarly said that Russian soldiers only live for around 10 minutes after they exit the pipes.
