The quality of Vladimir Putin’s army has changed “drastically” after 1,000 days of war, according to UK officials.
The Russian president ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and expected to seize the entire country within a matter of days.
But almost three years later, Moscow has seized just approximately 20% of its neighbouring country while Ukraine is managing to hold onto roughly half of Russia’s Kursk region.
In its latest update on X, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russia’s attempt to create a “modern, professional force” has been derailed by the last 1,000 days of war.
“Russia’s land forces are radically different to the force that originally invaded Ukraine,” the UK intelligence officers said.
Moscow has lost more than 700,000 troops throughout the war, which has “drastically undermined Russia’s force quality”.
The MoD added: “Most personnel currently serving in the Russian military have received minimal training, and Russian commanders use basic tactics to make advances, despite the associated high casualty rates.”
The MoD noted that Russia has lost at least 3,500 main battle tanks and 7,500 armoured vehicles too, meaning they have had to reply on replacements which date back to the Soviet Union era.
The intelligence officers added: “Despite the costs imposed on its land forces, Russian territorial advances in Ukraine have accelerated through 2024.
“This has been underpinned by the Russian leadership’s tolerance for casualties, and Russia’s land forces’ quantitive overmatch relative to Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The frontline is now less stable than at any point since the opening stages of the conflict.”
In September, Putin announced his plans to expand his army to 1.5m active troops – which would make it the second largest army in the world.
However, the president has since decided to recruit North Korean troops to serve with Russia in a bid to bolster his depleted forces.
That decision prompted the US – and later the UK – to authorise Ukraine to use their long-range missiles against Russia for the first time.
Moscow declared that an escalation, lowered their own threshold for using nuclear weapons and then – according to Kyiv – launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine last night.