The USSR lost nearly 15,000 troops in Afghanistan over about 9 years. If the current loss estimates are at all accurate, there are going to be some angry parents and wives of soldiers going into the 2024 election. But who could win against Putin?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/09/russia-has-lost-up-80000-troops-ukraine-or-75000-or-is-it-60000/Russia has lost up to 80,000 troops in Ukraine. Or 75,000. Or is it 60,000?
On July 20, the CIA said Russia had suffered 60,000 casualties in Ukraine since widening its war there Feb. 24. On July 27, the Biden administration told lawmakers Moscow’s losses ran to 75,000 killed and wounded. On Monday, the Pentagon’s number crept higher, to up to 80,000.
Even 60,000 would be catastrophic. Over two decades of war in Afghanistan, the United States endured 2,448 dead and more than 20,000 wounded. At, 80,000, it would be more than half the 150,000 troops Russia was estimated to have massed on Ukraine’s border by Feb. 23.
