General Roly Walker, the new chief of the British Army, has estimated that Russia could suffer up to 1.8 million casualties over five years in its attempt to capture four major Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts – that it claims to have annexed in fall 2022.
Walker, a former SAS officer and director of special forces, assumed his role as UK Chief of the General Staff on 15 June.
Speaking at the 2024 Land Warfare Conference, Walker based his prediction on the “current rate of attrition of dead and wounded” faced by Russia’s forces in Ukraine, Business Insider reports.
The Times of London reported that Walker stated that if President Putin continues deploying troops to the front line, Russia’s casualties could be “well north of 1.5 million.”
Already, Russia has suffered 550,000 casualties, including those killed, wounded, or captured over two and a half years of war, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.
“It doesn’t matter how it ends. I think Russia will emerge from it probably weaker objectively, or absolutely, but still very, very dangerous and wanting some form of retribution for what we have done to help Ukraine,” he stated, saying that Britain must be prepared for war within three years, according to the BBC.
The British military planning to double its firepower by 2027 and triple its capacity by 2030.
Related:
- The Economist: Russia needs ceasefire as Soviet-era weapon stocks deplete
- Russian GRU’s sabotage recruitment in Baltics exposed by journalists
- Bild: Swedish defense minister warns of growing Russian threat, calls for strengthening NATO
- Reuters: Poland, Baltics call for “defense line” along Europe’s Eastern border
- NATO leaders voice “deep concern” over Russian hybrid threats
- Norway’s top general says NATO has 2-3 years before Russia regains conventional attack capability
