620 Russian Soldiers Eliminated On Christmas Day; Total Death Toll Surpasses 102,000

The Ukrainian military recorded 620 Russian casualties on Christmas, pushing Russia's total number of losses in the invasion of Ukraine beyond 102,000.

Russia has suffered 102,050 combat losses among its personnel since the conflict began in late February, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its most recent casualty report released Sunday.

A report from the previous day put the number at 101,430.

Russian losses in the war also included 3,011 tanks, 6,010 armored fighting vehicles and 1,991 artillery systems, among other military equipment.

The last official Russian death toll from the conflict, provided by Russia's defense ministry in September, claimed 5,937 Russian soldiers had died in Ukraine up to that point.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has lost up to 13,000 of its troops, according to Ukrainian officials.

Both sides could be underreporting the true scale of their losses, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense (MoD) has suggested.

Russian casualties could number 120,000 by spring, the Warsaw Institute, a think tank based in Poland, estimated.

Casualties among Russia's pool of junior officers may be contributing to Russian losses.

More than 800 Russian senior lieutenants and captains have been killed in action in the conflict, the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) said in a statement, citing data provided by the open-source Killed in Ukraine initiative.

Half of Russia's competent ground-fighting company commanders in Ukraine are either dead or wounded, according to the Washington D.C.-based think tank.

"[C]ompany commanders lead the fight by synchronizing fires, movement, and supporting units. A company commander is also the highest-level officer who knows each soldier in their unit and can drive the execution of a mission by his presence," CEPA explained.

"The absence of competent tactical leadership will lead to increased losses, and a more sequential fight as integration fails to work between combined arms, and exposes moving infantry and armor to Ukrainian fire," the organization added.

The British MoD warned in May that "devastating losses" among Russia's mid and junior tanking officers in Ukraine would likely exacerbate Russia's attempts to modernize its approach to command and control.

It would also supposedly result in continued poor discipline among troops and further decrease morale.