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UK says Russian casualties in Ukraine 20 times higher than Soviet losses in Afghanistan
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up a communist government facing widespread insurgency.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has claimed that Russia’s battlefield losses in Ukraine are already 20 times higher than Soviet casualties during the war in Afghanistan, underscoring what she described as the catastrophic toll of Moscow’s ongoing invasion.
Speaking at a high-level UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Cooper said Russia is facing severe manpower and equipment shortages. “In this war that they started, their [Russian] losses are now 20 times higher than Soviet losses in Afghanistan. They are struggling to recruit, and in some areas, their stocks are so low they have resorted to using military equipment from the 1950s,” she said, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
The foreign secretary warned that Western allies would continue to tighten sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s ability to finance the conflict. “We will target your ailing economy, your oil and gas revenues that are paying for this war,” she told the Russian delegation.
Cooper said falling energy revenues were already squeezing Moscow’s state budget, with oil revenues at a five-year low. “The price of war is piling up and the sanctions are tightening the screws — but we will go further. Be in no doubt,” she added.
She reaffirmed the UK’s long-term commitment to Ukraine, stressing that British support would remain “now and for decades to come.”
The remarks came during a Security Council session focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who urged continued international backing for Kyiv.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979 to prop up a communist government facing widespread insurgency.
What followed was a decade-long conflict in which Soviet forces battled Afghan mujahideen fighters backed by the United States, Pakistan, and other countries.
The war became a costly quagmire, leaving an estimated 15,000 Soviet soldiers dead and over 50,000 wounded before Moscow’s withdrawal in 1989.
The campaign is widely seen as a factor that drained the Soviet economy and hastened the collapse of the USSR.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that security risks in Central Asia and developments in Afghanistan are among the primary concerns for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO is a regional military alliance that includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Speaking in Moscow during a meeting with CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov, Lavrov described the region’s security challenges as “central” to the organization’s agenda.
“The problems that are currently among the central ones for the CSTO are new challenges and threats. I am referring to the situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, as well as everything related to what is happening in Afghanistan,” he said.
He praised Masadykov as “one of the leading experts” on Central Asian security, noting that his experience could enhance coordination and increase the effectiveness of allied actions.
Similar to NATO, the CSTO considers an attack on one member state as an attack on all.
Countries in the region have always expressed concern about security threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed these concerns and assured that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against another country.
The Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan has announced that the leader of the Islamic Emirate has approved the establishment of a faculty dedicated to “Prophetic Medicine.”
According to the ministry, this new faculty will play a vital role in advancing medical sciences and training skilled healthcare professionals across the country.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, Noorullah Noori, has announced that the long-delayed demarcation and renovation of border markers along the Afghanistan–Iran frontier will officially begin in the near future.
According to a statement from the ministry, Noori made the remarks during a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to Kabul, Ali-Reza Bikdeli.
He assured the Iranian side that the Islamic Emirate is fully committed to accelerating the process and resolving any challenges that may arise during implementation.
In a separate statement, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said Bikdeli underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation on border issues, describing it as a key factor in strengthening and expanding overall relations between the two countries.
Officials from both sides agreed nearly three months ago to resume the border-marker renovation project, which had remained stalled for the past seven years.
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