Russia's losses in Ukraine war worse than anyone thinks – British colonel

Russia's losses in the war in Ukraine are worse than Western analysts estimate, and the long-term costs of ammunition for Russia are likely to be devastating.

Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commander of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment of the British Army, said this in an article for The Telegraph, according to Ukrinform.

According to the author, Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech at the Victory Day parade on May 9 was "desperate, even delusional." He claimed civilization was "at a decisive turning point"; that a "real war has been unleashed against Russia"; that the West seeks the "disintegration and destruction" of Russia.

"The only person driving towards that goal is Putin himself. His army is in a shambolic condition, with multiple reports indicating that troops are fighting without adequate body armor. Young men are conscripted and thrown into the meat grinder of the Donbas, backed by antiquated tanks. They face forces combining modern Western equipment with significant new tactical innovations. And they are being slaughtered," de Bretton-Gordon said.

According to the author, Ukrainian reports of Russian casualties resemble something from the fronts of the First World War, with hundreds killed and injured each day. Western analysts have tended to be more conservative in their estimates. However, the colonel notes, the full-scale war in Ukraine is not like conflicts the world has seen before.

"Kyiv's forces are innovating new ways of conducting warfare, with drones at their heart. Tech savvy young men and women are repurposing and re-engineering for the battlefield off-the-shelf and inexpensive equipment developed for peace," the article reads.

"What is unique to the Ukraine conflict is the use of both drones as striking weapons and as platforms for observation. Some analysts suggest that using the standard ratios of deaths/wounded will be very far from reflecting the lethality of this new mode of warfare," the article says.

The author wrote that now, there are hundreds of tiny drones with amazingly capable cameras, giving detailed pictures and highly accurate meta data back to the guns.

"This is a type of warfare which few in NATO have ever experienced; when Russian casualty rates as estimated by the West appear to be half what the Ukrainians are claiming, it is surely possible that the Ukrainians are right," the article reads.

According to the author, this is backed up by the scramble in Russia to find soldiers.

De Bretton-Gordon wrote that both sides might lack ammunition, but the Kremlin appears to be running out of soldiers to fire that ammunition. "The long-term costs for Russia are likely to be devastating," the colonel concluded.