NATO hasn't seen Donbas captured for at least a year and a half, and 350,000 Russians have died in the war

NATO does not expect the collapse of the Ukrainian front in Donetsk region for at least a year and a half, and Russia's losses in the war against Ukraine amount to several hundred thousand people killed alone. This was announced by an Alliance official during a briefing, according to materials provided to LIGA.net by NATO.

"How long will it take Russia to capture the rest of Donbas? It is very difficult to make any reliable estimates here... We do not believe that the Ukrainian defense is even close to collapsing in a way that would allow this to happen within the next 18 months," the official said.

In his opinion, it is possible to make a prediction that the Russians will need at least that much time.

"I'm not saying that the Russians will capture it in 18 months," he emphasized, explaining that if we forecast for such a period, the conditions for the full occupation of Donbas are not favorable.

The official also said that Russia continues to suffer very heavy losses: in 2025 alone, there were almost 400,000 killed and wounded, and the total number during a full-scale war is approximately 1.3 million.

The total number of Russian military killed is 350,000, he added.

Regarding the losses of Russia and Ukraine in the war, the official cited a figure of 2.2 million, with 415,000 in 2025 alone.

The official put the total number of troops on the battlefield at about 700,000 occupants and about 400,000 Ukrainian troops.

According to him, seven to four is "certainly not a very good ratio," but it is far from the traditional three to one ratio required for a major offensive.

"So while Russia is slowly increasing the number of these troops, the number of Ukrainian troops is slowly decreasing, these are not the ratios we would like to see. But it's still not a decisive advantage for Russia. And all of this, of course, is happening in the context of the terrible losses that both sides are suffering. But the Russian figures are particularly bad," the official explained.

• One of the main demands of the Russian Federation is the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Ukrainian Donbas. In February, President Zelenskyy said that the complete seizure of the territory would cost Moscow 800,000 casualties and that Russians "won't last that long". He estimates that it will take at least two years for Russia to occupy the region.
• The head of state reported that the official number of Ukrainian defenders killed at the front is 55,000, but at the same time there are "a large number of people whom Ukraine considers missing".
• As of February 11, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine evaluates Russia's estimated losses in killed and wounded as 1,249,380 persons.