About 700 thousand Russian soldiers are in the combat zone in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during participation in the so-called "direct line". According to him, this many servicemen are currently deployed "in the SVO zone".
Similar estimates were made back in September by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence (GUR), according to which this number includes not only units of the Russian Ministry of Defense, but also units of the Rosgvardia, special formations, and logistics and support services.
For comparison, in January the Kyiv Independent reported that the number of Ukrainian armed forces amounts to about 880 thousand people. However, these forces are distributed throughout the country, including in the western regions, where active hostilities are not taking place. Unlike Ukraine, Russian rear areas are not under constant threat of massive missile strikes, which allows Moscow to more flexibly transfer troops to key areas and achieve numerical superiority in individual sections of the front.
According to data from open sources and Western assessments, Russia's ability to outstrip and compensate for its losses remains significant. The UK Ministry of Defence estimates that in 2024 the Russian armed forces suffered over 420,000 casualties - killed, wounded and missing. At the same time, according to official statements from Moscow, over the same period about 400,000 servicemen were recruited for contract service, meaning that the losses were almost fully compensated.
Experts note that for several years now the Kremlin has managed to maintain the size of the army through a combination of measures - from partial mobilization and active recruitment of contract soldiers to the use of convicts and other non-traditional sources to replenish the personnel. Thus, Russia has largely managed to replace almost every serviceman it loses irretrievably on the battlefield.