Independent analysis indicates that Russian troops are operating under extreme conditions, facing heavy casualties and psychological strain.

 Dec. 12, 2025

Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) on Friday, Dec. 12, released an intercepted conversation in which a Russian soldier’s mother describes gruesome scenes from the front lines to a friend.

In the recording, the mother recounts what her son allegedly showed her in a video. The intercept does not make clear where the video was filmed. 

“Alyosha came home… Mom, do you want me to see the video? He just opened it, and I said, ‘Oh my God.’ Chunks of flesh are lying around… legs separate, heads separate – it’s like a slaughterhouse, a dump,” the woman said.

“One head is lying there, eyes open.”

“This is what they’re doing – a dump, damn it, a f***ing special operation. Especially, do you know where [the remains of bodies]? In the trenches. It’s as if someone dumped it from a truck,” she added.

Independent analysis indicates that Russian troops are operating under extreme conditions, facing heavy casualties and psychological strain.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the British Ministry of Defence, Russia has maintained a force of roughly 500,000-650,000 men in and near Ukraine since 2024, with an average of 900-1,200 killed or seriously wounded each day, and peaks exceeding 2,000 in a single 24-hour period.

In 2024 – the last year with full data – Icelandic researcher Ragnar Gudmundsson estimated that Russian forces lost around 427,000 personnel.

Ukraine’s General Staff, citing drone imagery and battlefield intelligence, put the figure at 430,790. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky told reporters in January 2025 that the number was “between 420,000 and 430,000,” noting that nearly one-third of soldiers died on the battlefield.

Ukraine’s state project “I Want to Live” has released what it says are official Russian military loss statistics for the first eight months of 2025. According to the project, Russia lost 281,550 personnel between January and August, including killed, wounded, and missing in action. 

If these figures are accurate – and Kyiv Post research and most independent analysts conclude they likely are – then a Russian soldier sent to invade Ukraine today is roughly two to three times as likely to be killed or wounded in combat as a Soviet soldier during WWII.

Despite these losses, Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly stated that operations will continue until all of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions are under Moscow’s control.

In 2023, Kyiv Post interviewed “Maria,” a professional eavesdropper, who said the “insane” things heard in intercepted calls are, in fact, real despite their often outrageous nature.

“They all are real even though they might seem insane. Sometimes I can’t believe the words I’m hearing myself, but we have what we have,” she said.

Kyiv Post regularly reposts some of the most revealing and shocking intercepted conversations. Check out more intercepted conversations:

‘100% Death’: Intercepted Call Exposes Horror Zone Where Russian Troops ‘Don’t Come Back’

‘F***ing Insane’: Intercept Exposes Russian Warplanes Bombing Own Belgorod Region

‘If Anyone Runs, Shoot Them’ – Russian Commander Heard Ordering Execution of Deserters

‘Gas Canisters Not Issued, F**k’: Russian Soldiers Crowdfund for Basics, Die on Supply Runs

‘Three Holes in His Leg and Shrapnel in His Neck’ – Just 2 Russians Survived ‘Meat Assault’

Russian Woman Says: ‘Trump Will Lead the Horned One,’ Jews Will Rule the World

‘Brelok F**king Ate Him’: Intercept Reveals Russian Cannibal Soldier

‘They Drive Tanks for Vodka’ – Intercept Reveals Drunk Russian Troops Terrorizing Border Village

‘We Already Took His Stuff’: Russian Soldiers Plan to Kill Comrade, Intercept Reveals Brutal Army Reality

‘We Need to Take Odesa’ – Russian Woman Cites Fake ‘Biolabs’ to Justify Mykolaiv Attacks

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/66098