A senior NATO source told the Wall Street Journal that the Russian military had lost 7,000 to 15,000 troops during the fighting in Ukraine, leaving more than 25,000 wounded and captured by the invading force.
The source estimated that the Russian initial force stood at 190,000 troops and almost 40% of it went out of action during the fighting in the country.
In addition, the source estimated that the Russian army had given up on advancing towards the capital Kyiv at this stage and was engaged in redeployment and defense.
The senior official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the American newspaper that Russia was trying to complete the erosion of its manpower by recruiting fighters in Chechnya and Syria and sending them to the front of the fighting in Ukraine.
The replacement of regular Russian soldiers with foreign forces with little knowledge of the region could also affect the quality of the Russian army's fighting.
"Suffering from cold burns"
A wireless call between a Russian officer and his commander was exposed today (Wednesday) by journalists in Ukraine and revealed the dismal state of the Russian army attacking the city of Mikuliev in the south of the country.
The call was authenticated by the British Telegraph and as far as the sight was recorded by Ukrainian intelligence.
During the conversation, the officer was heard saying: "Half of my soldiers suffer from cold burns. The paramedics have nothing to do with them because all the dressing equipment is needed for the wounded."
The officer explains that his men are sleeping in trenches dug in the extreme cold because they have not been given tents and suitable winter equipment.
"We had to carry our dead bodies for five days," the commander protested.
The officer does not seem to be able to understand with a nearby force destroyed by Ukrainian gunfire or Russian-friendly fire.
"We were instructed to stay, but a late column continued to be completely destroyed by a Grad missile," the officer was heard saying to his commander.
He says that during Nelima, a senior officer arrived at the force under his command and assured them that the fighting would be over within a few hours.
The commander-in-chief was heard saying to his command: "Hold on my son."
The Russian attack on the city of Mikuliev, a shipyard city in southern Ukraine, has suffered severe delays following anti-Ukrainian uprisings.
The Ukrainians managed to reconquer the city's airport and push the Russians off the roads leading to it, preventing the invaders from encircling the key city.
Nikolayev's occupation is important to the Russians in order to cut off the city of Odessa from the rest of Ukraine and in order to break the Ukrainian embankment lines to the south.
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