Russia ‘looking for new soldiers’; Kyiv claims 83,000 dead so far in 2026

Key points

• Russia’s attempts at escalation via Belarus, where it has delivered more nuclear weapons and held highly publicised joint war games, come as its ground war falters in Ukraine.
• Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii told Militarnyi magazine that Ukraine has seized the tactical initiative, as Ukrainian offensive assaults on Russian positions now outnumber Russian assaults on Ukrainian positions.
• Ukraine’s forces have been able to do this because Russian forces are running out of soldiers to conduct offensive operations, he said.
• “Since the beginning of 2026, the total losses of the enemy have already exceeded 141,500 people, of which more than 83,000 are irreversible,” Syrskii wrote on his Telegram messaging channel.
• Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service believes Russia is unable to replenish these losses of more than 1,000 people a day, and this year is recruiting at a rate of 800-930 a day, suffering a net decrease of battlefield strength.