Number of Russian deaths in Ukraine

Thought for the day

I don't know how reliable Yahoo headlines are, but this one caught my eye yesterday:  "Russia suffering 40K casualties per month."  

If 25% of these casualties actually are troops killed in Ukraine, then the total number of deaths among Putin's forces will be 120,000 this year.  This will far exceed the 58,000 U.S. troops killed fighting in Vietnam for over a decade.

I was an undergrad at USC from 1966 to 1970.  Those were some of the deadliest years of the Vietnam War.  Back then, many fathers who fought in WWII didn't understand why their able-bodied sons refused to enlist (much less publicly protest the war).  

The private rift that developed in families coast to coast ended up impacting the American psyche for decades.  I'm guessing when everyday Russians learn the real number of troops killed in Ukraine, something similar will happen to the Russian psyche.

War isn't inevitable; but, when it happens, mostly young recruits bear the brunt of the fighting (and untimely deaths).  I hope the next Yahoo headline I read is, "Russia ends its war with Ukraine."

-DF