Main image: Lt Gen Walker serving in Afghanistan in 2007 CREDIT: Heathcliff O'Malley
The Russian army may need five years to capture the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. During this time, Russian military losses are likely to reach up to 1.8 million soldiers.
Newsweek reports that this was stated by British Army Commander General Roly Walker during a land warfare conference at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
‘If they carry on as they are, it will probably take the Russians five years to grind their way to their minimum objectives of the four regions,’ said the British Army commander.
Walker also suggested that at the current rates of casualties, it is likely to cost 1.5-1.8 million lives, as well as ‘countless billions’ on destroyed equipment.
‘There has got to be more things for Russia to worry about than losing the best part of 1.5 to 1.8 million people for a slice of Ukraine,’ he added.
‘At the current rate of attrition of dead and wounded, that puts them probably well north of 1.5 million casualties to achieve that, with untold billions of lost equipment,’ concluded the British general.
The total combat losses of the Russian military in Ukraine from February 24, 2022, to July 25, 2024, amount to approximately 571,350 personnel, including 1,230 in the previous day alone.
Additionally, the Defense Forces have destroyed 8,313 (+11) Russian tanks, 16,039 (+26) armored combat vehicles, 15,804 (+45) artillery systems, 1,125 (+0) multiple rocket launchers, 904 (+2) air defense systems, 363 (+0) aircraft, 326 (+0) helicopters, 12,610 (+66) tactical UAVs, 2,402 (+0) cruise missiles, 28 (+0) ships/boats, 1 (+0) submarine, 21,358 (+79) vehicles and tankers, and 2,661 (+11) pieces of special equipment.