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submitted 3 days ago by morysal@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

The average life expectancy for a Russian soldier in Ukraine is between 20-30 minutes, CIA director John Ratcliffe said. Speaking at a defense summit in Pennsylvania, he attributed the deadly conditions for Vladimir Putin's forces to Ukraine's combat drones equipped with AI. "What I would say is, our intelligence is consistent with some of the open-source reporting you may have seen in Ukraine," Ratcliffe said.  "So the average life expectancy of a Russian recruit, right now, arriving on the battlefield in Ukraine, is estimated to be between 20 and 30 minutes." "And that's because AI-powered drones have gotten to be such specialized, low-cost killing machines. And it's why we're now four and a half years into that conflict," Ratcliffe added. Ukraine said this month that Russia has lost about 1.4 million soldiers since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, with over 1,000 of the Kremlin's troops killed or wounded almost every day.  In May, Ukraine's defense ministry said it was killing roughly 200 Russian soldiers for every kilometer of territory that Moscow claimed.

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[-] REDACTED@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

What's the correct understanding of the numbers?

When a foot soldier gets to an active conflict zone, on average they get hit (not necessarily killed, casualty is also wounded) every 30 minutes. This does not count in drone operators, logistics, etc., but the most dangerous job in the army - front lines. If you see some of the footage from the front, then this does not seem that extreme. That's why it's called meatgrinder

[-] plyth@feddit.org 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

What is the main unit?

A soldier? So soldiers stay for 6 hours and are hit 12 times and all wounds are just flesh wounds and they stay until they are fatally shot after 3 month?

A hit every 30 minutes otherwise means 48 hits per day, 48 wounded or dead soldiers. 48 soldiers of what?

All soldiers? Russia has 48 casualities per day?

A company of 130 people loses 48 per day?

A battalion of 500 people loses 48 per day

A regiment of 1500 people loses 48 per day?

[-] REDACTED@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago

A soldier? So soldiers stay for 6 hours and are hit 12 times and all wounds are just flesh wounds and they stay until they are fatally shot after 3 month?

...what. Are you AI? I genuinely don't understand the logic behind what you say and why you say it. Why would they all be flesh wounds? Why would the time be static as if it's not anywhere between 1 and 60 minutes, even higher? Why 3 months?

A hit every 30 minutes otherwise means 48 hits per day, 48 wounded or dead soldiers. 48 soldiers of what?

I think they're talking about Russian war. Meaning Russia.

All soldiers? Russia has 48 casualities per day?

Why 48 per day? Are you saying Russia replenishes the front lines at a rate of 1 soldier per 30 minutes? Again, what are you talking about and why are you saying this.

Yesterday, the reported casualty count for Russia was 1400, this implies on average 46 soldiers per 30 minutes. Higher than my own guess, but still a legit sounding number.

this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2026
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