Russia Hides The Casualties of Their War-Here Pieaced Together, The Clues

 Interviews with wounded Russian soldiers, and with relatives of others, reveal glimpses of what injured veterans can expect when sent home from Ukraine. 

By Neil MacFarquhar and Milana Mazaeva

 

The true casualty toll in Russia from its invasion of Ukraine is an enduring secret of the war. The Kremlin maintains a policy of silence, and many Russians do not speak publicly for fear of repercussions.

But the number of Russians wounded in combat is believed to be staggering.

The Pentagon puts the Russian death toll at about 60,000, with the wounded three or four times that totaling roughly 300,000 casualties, said a U.S. official speaking on the condition of anonymity.

What Russians say

One senior Russian official estimated that amputees represented more than half of those seriously wounded.

The New York Times interviewed five wounded Russian soldiers and the relatives of others to learn more about what happens to the vast numbers of injured, coming home to inconsistent treatment and little discussion of them. 

One has a microprocessor to move the fingers on his prosthetic arm, but only a simple mechanical elbow: He can hold a glass, but not lift it. The arm, he said, was “more cosmetic than working.”

Another soldier lost part of his brain, and relies on his wife for care. She turned to crowdfunding, writing, “I feel like I’m putting my loved one together like a puzzle.”

A Russian who visited his brother-in-law in a Moscow hospital said the six soldiers on the ward mostly still wore battlefield fatigues, so he brought them new clothes, soap, toothbrushes, and a warm meal.

Accounts of erratic care

Some laud the medical care available while others described an overwhelmed system, with shortages of everything from medicine to adult diapers.

The wounded are often pushed to return to the front quickly.

A soldier who suffered shrapnel wounds said he was told to report back to the front six days after his hospital discharge. 

“It was a conveyor belt,” he said of his crowded ward.

Official praise, unofficial dismay

The wounded are not entirely hidden. President Vladimir V. Putin has made a few hospital visits, sometimes handing out medals, and state media often portrays wounded veterans as heroes.

Anton Filimonov, who lost a leg stepping on a mine, has become one such symbol in Russia of an amputee overcoming adversity.

He has said publicly that Russians were “not ready” to see amputees, and some medical workers have noted a distinct lack of public compassion, with amputees seen begging on the streets.

 The New York Times

Alina Lobzina, Oleg Matsnev and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.

Neil MacFarquhar has been a Times reporter since 1995, writing about a range of topics from war to politics to the arts, both internationally and in the United States.

Our Coverage of the War in Ukraine

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News and Analysis

• Ukraine claimed that its forces had sunk a Russian landing ship off the coast of Crimea. The attack would be a powerful blow against Russians at sea, at a time when Ukrainian soldiers are struggling to hold back assaults on land.

• President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is redoubling his diplomatic outreach to Europe, as the debate in the United States over providing renewed military assistance for Ukraine continues to play out in Congress.

• Kyiv said it had evidence that Russia had used a new hypersonic cruise missile for the first time in an attack, a development that would pose another challenge to Ukraine’s already strained air defenses.

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Read More

• Creative Use of Weapons: Ukraine’s use of a Patriot missile to take down a plane in January is an example of how novel battlefield tactics can be fraught with peril as well as promise.

• Broadcasting Rage: Residents of the battered Ukrainian city of Kharkiv turn to a station called Radio Boiling Over to vent their anger at Russian attacks.

• Reined In: Ukraine’s oligarchs have lost billions from the shelling of their factories. Now the government hopes to break their political influence.

• Staying Put: The front line in Ukraine is largely populated by the elderly these days. Some can’t afford to get out, while others say they won’t leave their homes.

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