Ukraine estimates nearly 700,000 Russian service members are currently deployed in its territory, including National Guard soldiers, special forces, and support units, according to the Ukrainian military intelligence service (GUR).
“The majority is deployed in Donetsk Oblast, which shows… (Russia’s) priorities,” GUR Spokesperson Andrii Yusov told local media.
The figure comes after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s announcement last January that Russia sustained a numerical advantage in some front-line areas, with about 600,000 troops in Ukraine at the time, despite Ukraine’s own force of roughly 900,000 nationwide.
Heavy Losses, Steady Reinforcements
Russia has kept its frontline strength despite more than 1 million reported casualties, replacing losses with newly contracted soldiers, according to reports.
The reinforcements have allowed Moscow to sustain pressure while Kyiv grapples with mounting personnel shortages.
Russian forces have also been joined by North Korean troops. An initial contingent of 11,000 to 12,000 deployed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast reportedly lost about 2,000 while helping repel a Ukrainian incursion, with additional units expected to arrive.
Yusov verified that Pyongyang’s soldiers remain on Russian territory and have not crossed into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has bolstered Russia’s campaign further, providing not only personnel but also large shipments of weapons.
“Along the entire front, 40 to 60 percent of artillery shells fired at Ukraine and Ukrainian soldiers are North Korean-made – these are huge numbers,” Yusov said.
“If this factor were taken away, Russia’s fire support and strike capabilities would be much smaller,” he added, noting Pyongyang’s artillery and missile shipments outweigh the impact of its troop deployment.
Spike in Russian Troop Count
In August, Ukrainian officers warned that the scale of Russian forces had become overwhelming, with troop concentrations creating severe pressure on Ukrainian defenses.
Viktor Tregubov, a spokesperson for the “Dnipro” operational-strategic grouping tasked with Ukrainian formation across Russian-occupied territories, said enemy troop levels in some areas already surpass the size of local prewar populations.
“It seems like they’ve gathered such a horde to take on an average European country,” Tregubov said.
