Russia’s military has been significantly weakened by its invasion of Ukraine, according to an assessment released yesterday by the U.K. ministry of defense. In April, U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the Biden administration hoped to see Russia “weakened” by the invasion.
“Russia’s military is now significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Recovery from this will be exacerbated by sanctions. This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military force,” read a tweet posted to the defense ministry’s account.
The defense ministry said that this weakening came about even though Russia doubled its military budget between 2005–2018 and undertook a massive military-modernization effort.
But, the ministry said in the tweet,“ the modernization of its physical equipment had not enabled Russia to dominate Ukraine,” because of strategic-planning and tactical failures.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed last week that more than 23,000 Russian troops had died since the start of the invasion in late February. At least seven Russian generals are also reported to have been killed since then, too.
Meanwhile, a U.S. and allied campaign that began in late February to punish Moscow over the invasion is expected to cripple Russia’s defense-industrial base.
The U.K.’s assessment lines up with what top U.S. officials have said about Russia’s military capabilities in recent weeks.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference that followed his trip to Kyiv last month that, “when it comes to Russia’s war aims, Russia is failing, Ukraine is succeeding.”
Austin, who also traveled to the Ukrainian capital said that the U.S. wants to “see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” He noted the large number of Russian casualties and added that, “we want to see them not have the capability to very quickly reproduce that capability.”