Foreign Policy
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Ukraine’s newly appointed defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has a new, grim strategy for winning against Russia’s onslaught: Kill more Russian troops than the Kremlin can send.
Ukraine appears to have already made some progress toward that goal: Russian fatalities per month climbed in 2025, according to a BBC study of obituaries published in Russian newspapers.
The higher death rate may be tied to Russia using fewer armored vehicles, which are valuable but easily detectable by drone, and instead attacking with only infantry, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a fellow at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
The increase may also be tied to the Kremlin pressuring its forces to make gains as a way of influencing the United States to stop supporting Ukraine, Stepanenko added. “The intensity of Russian assaults has remained high because the Kremlin needs to create that perception [that it’s winning],” she said.
