Russia loses over 900 elite specialists, who took years of work and millions of dollars to train - BBC

This is reported by the BBC.

According to the BBC, during the six months of the war in Ukraine, the Russian army lost more than 900 elite specialists, who took years of effort and millions of dollars to train.

"According to both Western and Russian experts, combined-arms units of the Russian army were not ready for assault operations. As a result, the tasks that are usually assigned to infantry had to be solved by Special Forces units, Marines and paratroopers. It was these formations, which are traditionally considered the elite of the Russian army, that suffered significant losses during the six months of the invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of military pilots were also killed. According to experts, it will be problematic for Russia to make up for the loss of all these specialists," the BBC writes.

As of September 1, using open data, the BBC managed to calculate the number of deaths in elite units of the Russian Federation:

• Marine Corps-337,

• special detachments of National Guard of Russia  – 245,

• special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate – 151,

• two elite regiments of the airborne forces – 144,

• military pilots-67,

• Federal Security Service and Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation – 20.

According to Michael Kofman, an expert at the Center for Naval Analysis, for every Russian soldier killed during the war in Ukraine, there are about 3.5 wounded.

It is also noted that the losses of pilots are classified as a special category, since the training of such specialists costs the Russian Federation more than 12 million.

"As of September 1, the BBC has information about 67 Russian military pilots who died during the invasion of Ukraine (along with navigators and flight mechanics). This is a special category of losses, since the crews of combat aircraft and helicopters are artificial specialists and the elite of any army in the world. Training of one sniper pilot can take 15-17 years and costs 1 12-14 million," the report says.

• From February 24 to September 1, invading Russian forces lost about 48,350 military personnel, 1,997 tanks, 1,115 artillery systems and 205 aircraft.