See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:36 BST, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 20:38 BST, 29 June 2026
Russian soldiers have a life expectancy of between 20 and 35 minutes once they get on the front lines in Ukraine, it has been claimed. These troops are then believed to have only been conscripted between 10 days and three weeks earlier - highlighting the shockingly high turnover that is demanded of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's army.Historian and professor Peter Frankopan has added that Russia is also losing about eight soldiers for every Ukrainian killed - totalling about 30,000 Russian troops every month - according to German newspaper Bild.Generous sign-up bonuses of up to £60,000 for Russian civilians have also been reported, in efforts to encourage men to enlist for the Kremlin's meatgrinder missions.Last month, GCHQ said that Russia had lost almost half a million soldiers in the war in Ukraine - a figure which was far higher than previous estimates of 350,000 deaths.It would mean that more than 300 soldiers a day have lost their lives since Moscow launched the invasion on February 24, 2022.By comparison, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that around 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had died since the start of the war. Following a recent Russian tactic which sees soldiers crawl with their arms for miles through pipes to reach Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian sergeant 'Tovsty' of the Khartiia Brigade has similarly said that Russian soldiers only live for around 10 minutes after they exit the pipes. Russian soldiers have a life expectancy of between 20 and 35 minutes once they get on the front lines in Ukraine , it has been claimed (stock image of military police) The shocking reported figures highlight the high turnover that is demanded of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's army (pictured in February)A Russian soldier can hope to survive for a single hour 'but it's usually 10 minutes, and that's it', he told the Kyiv Independent.With drones saturating the skies, exposed movement has become near-suicidal, pushing Russian forces to exploit remnants of Soviet-era gas infrastructure as cover passageways.'You can't really walk on the ground now in the war of drones, so everything is done underground,' Tovsty said.In 2023, it was reported that Russian soldiers said they are taking their own lives or deserting rather than face certain death. Soldiers from the 1,442nd regiment, who were fighting near the occupied Ukrainian village of Klishchiivka near Bakhmut, said in a video they are now fleeing and disobeying an order to form an assault group as it would mean 'guaranteed death'.They highlighted the brutal horror of the front lines, saying they face slaughter at the hands of Ukraine if they attack them after being given faulty ammunition but also from Vladimir Putin's death squads if they retreat.The Russian soldiers said the situation has become so bad that some men were taking their own lives before being sent to fight again. And in March, Russia suffered their deadliest day of the year with 1,700 soldiers killed or wounded in 24 hours.Moscow's troops had attempted to move in using infantry, motorcycles and horses under the shield of fog before being wiped out, according to Robert Brovdi, head of the Ukrainian drone unit 'Magyar’s Birds'. The single deadliest day since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine is understood to have been December 20, 2024, when Moscow lost 2,200 soldiers in 24 hours of fighting. Analysts say Ukraine is increasingly holding up well on the battlefield but its cities are still the target of deadly Russian attacks in a conflict that has now lasted longer than World War I. In recent weeks, Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on Russian territory as Kyiv increasingly relies on domestic weapons production. Ukrainian attacks on key infrastructure have left the Russian-annexed Crimea on Friday declaring an 'emergency situation' over fuel shortages and power cuts triggered by Ukrainian attacks on its logistics chains and oil facilities.
