U.S. officials say Russian troop deaths are climbing, threatening its military’s morale.
Russia’s military has in three weeks lost more than 7,000 soldiers, greater than the number of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to American intelligence estimates.
The American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, caution that their numbers of Russian troop deaths are inexact, compiled through analysis of the news media, Ukrainian figures (which tend to be high, with the latest at 13,500), Russian figures (which tend to be low, with the latest at 498), satellite imagery and careful perusal of video images of Russian tanks and troops that come under fire.
Pentagon officials say that a high, and rising, number of war dead can destroy the will to continue fighting. One recent intelligence report focused on low morale among Russian troops and described soldiers just parking their vehicles and walking off into the woods.