While exact numbers remain unconfirmed, it is believed that Russia's military losses in Ukraine are double the number of U.S. servicemen who had died in Vietnam in one-tenth of the time.
In November, Army Gen. Mark Milley, the U.S. chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about 100,000 Russians had been killed or wounded.
On Dec. 4, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said the Russian death total reached 91,500. The same day, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C., think tank, noted that Russia was losing about 100 soldiers per day in the battle for Bakhmut. Serhi Cherevatyi, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces, said 50 Russia soldiers were being killed daily.
"In terms of the number of deaths from a Russian perspective, one comparison is the effect the Vietnam War had on the United States," Ronald Fricker, a professor of statistics at Virginia Tech, told Newsweek. "In that conflict, slightly more than 58,000 U.S. service members died, most occurring over the time span of about a decade.
"Of course, Russia in 2022 is not at all like the United States in the late ’60s and early ’70s, but it is also clear from news reports that this war is not popular with key segments of the Russian population. Combine that with a casualty rate roughly double Vietnam's that has occurred over about one-tenth of the time."
Russia faced stiff resistance, causing it to conscript soldiers. Hundreds of Russians have reportedly been detained for defying orders from their military commands, with several being trapped in basements for days and forced to dig trenches as punishment.
Russia's official death toll is just under 6,000. However, the U.N. does not consider figures released by those within the conflict reliable.
One must draw from existing numbers to understand the complexity of the death toll. Russia's population is roughly 143.4 million, making these 100,000 possible deaths around 1 in every 1,430 people or approximately 70 per 100,000.
In the decadelong conflict in Afghanistan, between 1979 to 1989, 15,000 Soviet soldiers were estimated to have died.
At the start of the conflict, only men between 18 and 40 were allowed to serve. That was later scrapped to include men over 40 being conscripted as of late May 2022.
"Each of them will have circa 10 people in their immediate circles," Dover said. "Thus the numbers directly impacted might be 2 million. And 2 million is sufficient to impact upon the mental health, societal level anxiety of entire towns, cities and regions on both sides. The knock-on impact of anxiety, grief, and other comorbidities will be felt over the next 10 to 15 years, as will the additional health and social costs of dislocated families."
The additional migration out of Russia will have long-lasting consequences. Russians fled in protest and to avoid being conscripted. This loss of can negatively impact population health by compromising the health service in Russia, which would quickly cause more significant deaths in soldiers in need and regular civilians.
These losses have added to weakened morale as well as support for Putin's war. Already many parts of Russia do not support the war. Mounting casualties may add to the disgruntled citizenry.
© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.