High turnover in Russia’s deployed military, even among senior ranks: UK

Russia’s deployed military is experiencing extreme attrition and high turnover even amongst relatively senior ranks, a UK intelligence update revealed.

“Since February 2022, three successive commanders of one of Russia’s most prestigious airborne regiments have either resigned or been killed. The 247th Guards Air Assault Landing Regiment commander Colonel Vasily Popov was likely killed in the heavily contested Orikhiv sector in early September 2023,” the British ministry of defense said in its war intelligence update.

It added: “Only weeks before, in August 2023, his predecessor, Colonel Pytor Popov, likely resigned his command. Independent Russian media sources claim he acted in protest over the military’s failure to recover the bodies of Russian casualties.”

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The British intelligence report highlighted: “In the early weeks of the invasion, then 247th commander Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky was killed near Mykolaiv. The experience of the 247th highlights the extreme attrition and high turnover in Russia’s deployed military, even amongst relatively senior ranks.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said earlier this month that Russia may announce a new wave of “forced” mobilization in the near future due to “catastrophic losses”. It added that according to varying estimates the mobilization can range from 400,000 to 700,000 people.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of Ukraine’s army reported on Sunday that the total combat losses of Russian troops since the beginning of the invasion amounted to: 275,970 military personnel, 4,666 tanks, 8,933 armored combat vehicles, 6,243 artillery systems, 793 multiple-launch rocket systems, 532 air defense systems, 315 fixed-wing aircraft, 316 helicopters, 4,875 tactical drones, 1,519 cruise missiles, 8,742 vehicles and tankers and 20 ships and boats.

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