Russia lost more than 1,500 soldiers a day, killed or wounded, fighting in Ukraine last month, the head of the UK armed forces has revealed.
This amounts to more than 46,000 troops – well over half the total size of the British Army, yet Admiral Sir Tony Radakin insisted that the UK was ready to fight a war at scale.
The Chief of the Defence Staff also stressed the importance of continuing to back Ukraine when asked about the potential impact of the re-election of Donald Trump on Russia’s war.
Sir Tony used the Russian casualty figure to underline the cost to Vladimir Putin of his invasion, but analysts say the Kremlin has proven itself more than capable of absorbing high attrition rates without changing its war aims.
Asked if the UK could fight a war at scale, he said: “Absolutely. So our servicemen and women will always be ready to serve their nation and to do as the government of the day directs us to do.”
Last month, however, John Healey, the new Labour defence secretary, told a Politico podcast that the armed forces were not ready to fight after being hollowed out and under-funded during 14 years of Conservative rule.
In reality, the hollowing out and under-funding also took place under the previous Labour government.
Pressed by Trevor Phillips on whether the army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force had the capabilities to fight a war, Admiral Radakin said: “We do have the capabilities. And then the reassurance is that we do that alongside our allies.
“And for those biggest fights, then we will always do them with our allies.”
He conceded, though, that the UK needs to be “even stronger in the future”.
Admiral Radakin added: “Some of that is about having deeper stockpiles. Some of that is being better at bringing technology and learning the lessons from Ukraine… And some of that is also recognising that you need to have a defence industry that can better support those demands.
“We’re in a more dangerous world.”
