For more on that we talk to DW's Dmity Ponyavin.
Moscow has remained tight-lipped about the impact the war is having on its troops. But independent experts have looked into it.
Moscow said it planned to beef up its military in 2023 from around 1 million to 1.5 million. According to independent data, there are an estimated 1.3 million. That figure includes active personnel, reservists and paramilitary forces.
In September of last year, President Putin announced the mobilization of 300,000 troops. Russia has said it doesn't need a mass mobilisation but last week's increase in the maximum age of conscription from 27 to 30 years of age.
Moscow has released no data on the number of troops it has deployed against Ukraine. Earlier this year, Ukrainian military intelligence claimed it stands at around 280,000. The UK's defense minister said this year that 97 percent of the Russian army is in Ukraine.
Moscow has publicly acknowledged the deaths of only 6,000 soldiers. Russian media outlets working with a data scientist from Germany’s Tübingen University put the number at close to 50,000. There's no data on the number of people who have deserted the Russian army, but human rights groups say there are more than one thousand court cases against alleged Russian deserters. Some rights groups claim the figure could be higher.
Recent moves by the government indicate Russia needs even more troops. Along with raising the recruit cut-off age to 30, Moscow has also made it harder to leave the country for people who have been drafted or who refuse to fight. The official reason: the country needs better defenses.
For more we talk to Marina Miron, a military analyst at King's College London.
