Russia suffered 54,400 troops killed and severely wounded in October, its heaviest monthly toll since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on November 1.
Zelensky said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces liberated 96.2 square kilometers (37 square miles) in October, 10.4 square kilometers more than Russian forces captured over the same period.
“In October, our Defense Forces of Ukraine inflicted record losses on the enemy and regained more territory than the Russian occupiers were able to capture,” he said.
Ukraine’s General Staff put Russia’s total losses since February 24, 2022, at 1,590,270 troops as of November 1, and said the current rate of losses exceeds Russia’s ability to replenish its units. The previous monthly high in the General Staff’s figures was 48,670, recorded in December 2024.
Zelensky said Russia’s deadliest single day came on October 21, when it lost 2,250 troops. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said his drone units accounted for 16,796 Russian casualties in October, nearly 31 percent of the total.
The figures could not be independently verified.
ISW: Russia Lost Ground Again
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces suffered their highest monthly losses of the war in October and lost ground for the second month in a row.
ISW said Russian forces had made marginal gains near Dobropillia in Donetsk region, but that capturing the town would not enable sweeping Russian advances in the region. It said Russia’s offensive against Kostiantynivka remained incomplete more than a year after Russian troops first infiltrated the town, and that Moscow was largely deprioritizing offensives in the Kupiansk and Borova directions.
Kyiv has increasingly relied on drones and robotic systems to hold the line, including ground drones that take over risky barrier work at the front. Ukraine has also said it identified 46,000 foreign recruits serving in Russia’s armed forces.
Moscow announced on October 2 plans to conscript a further 120,000 people.