---
title: "“Russia Is Already Losing the War”: Melnyk Tells UN Security Council Moscow Is Losing 30–35,000 Troops a Month"
description: "Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, stated at a Security Council meeting that Russia is already losing the war, losing up to 35,000 troops a month, and exhausting its economy."
date: 2026-08-25T03:44:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/melnik-un-security-council-russia-already-losing-war
tags: [ukraine-russia-war, un-security-council, andrei-melnik, military-losses, sanctions]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# “Russia Is Already Losing the War”: Melnyk Tells UN Security Council Moscow Is Losing 30–35,000 Troops a Month

![Andriy Melnyk in a black suit at the UN Security Council, commenting on Russian army losses](https://xab.info/media/2026/08/25/melnik-v-sovbeze-oon-rossiya-uzhe-proigrivaet-voynu/melnik-v-sovbeze-oon-rossiya-uzhe-proigrivaet-voynu-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Melnyk told the UN Security Council that Russia is already losing the war it unleashed.
- According to the Permanent Representative’s estimate, the Russian Armed Forces’ monthly losses amount to no fewer than 30–35,000 military personnel.
- The rate of losses, according to Melnyk, exceeds the Kremlin’s capacity to recruit contract soldiers.
- To replenish its army, Russia is drawing in prisoners, migrants, naturalized citizens, and mercenaries.
- The loss estimate is a claim by the Ukrainian side and has not been independently verified.

Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, stated during a Security Council meeting that Russia is already losing the war it unleashed against Ukraine, and that its economy is increasingly being drained by military spending, sanctions pressure, and strikes on its rear areas. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing a broadcast of the diplomat’s speech. According to Melnyk’s estimate, Moscow is losing no fewer than 30–35,000 military personnel each month, and the rate of these losses, he said, already exceeds the Kremlin’s capacity to recruit new contract soldiers.

### Demographic and Economic Resources at the Limit

The Ukrainian Permanent Representative emphasized that Russian regions are being forced to offer ever-larger cash payments to encourage citizens to join the army. According to him, vulnerable categories of the population are being drawn into the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces: prisoners, migrants, recently naturalized citizens, and mercenaries. Melnyk linked this to the gradual exhaustion of a country that continues to spend significant resources on the war while simultaneously suffering heavy losses. In his view, it is precisely the combination of these factors that points to a systemic decline in Russia’s military and economic potential.

### A Call to Moscow: Look at Your Own Losses

Addressing the Russian side, Melnyk stated that instead of spreading disinformation about the Ukrainian army, “aimed at inciting hatred and division in our society,” the Russian Permanent Representative, Vitaly Churkin [Nebenzia], “might perhaps reflect on the alarming reality within the Russian armed forces.” The diplomat stressed that Russia “is already losing the war it started itself, and will ultimately suffer defeat.”

### Contradictory Data

The estimate of Russia’s monthly losses at 30–35,000 military personnel is a claim by the Ukrainian side and has not been confirmed by independent international bodies available in open sources; the Russian delegation at the Security Council traditionally disputes such figures and does not publish comparable statistics. Thus, in the public sphere there exist two non-matching versions: the Kyiv side insists on a sustained excess of losses over replenishment capacity, while the Moscow side does not acknowledge these data. The XAB.info editorial team records both positions and does not treat the cited figures as an independently verified fact.

### Context: Negotiations and the Question of a Ceasefire

Melnyk’s speech fits into a broader context of his recent statements at the UN, where he emphasized that “Ukraine’s patience is not limitless” and discussed the possibility of direct negotiations with Russia, as well as calling on the Security Council to adopt a resolution on a ceasefire and the removal of Russia from peacekeeping missions. The statement that Russia “is already losing the war” became one of the sharpest public formulations by the Ukrainian side at the Security Council this year.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Melnyk Told the UN Security Council That Russia Is Already Losing the War](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/melnik-zayaviv-radbezi-oon-shcho-rosiya-vzhe-1787627929.html) - Основной источник: факт выступления, оценка потерь 30–35 тыс. в месяц, привлечение уязвимых категорий, цитата об обращении к Небензе.
- [“Even If Russia Signs an Act of Surrender”: Melnyk Responded to Nebenzia at the UN Security Council on ...](https://www.obozrevatel.com/politics-news/dazhe-pri-podpisanii-rossiej-akta-o-kapitulyatsii-melnik-v-sovbeze-oon-otvetil-nebenzi-po-priglasheniyu-posetit-moskvu.htm) - Подтверждает контекст обмена репликами Мельника и Небензи в Совбезе ООН.
- [“Ukraine’s Patience Is Not Limitless”: Melnyk Made a Statement at the UN on Direct Negotiations with Russia](https://zn.ua/POLITICS/terpenie-ukrainy-ne-bezhranichno-melnik-vystupil-v-oon-s-zajavleniem-o-prjamykh-perehovorakh-s-rf.html) - Дополнительный контекст: позиция Украины по переговорам и «терпению».
- [Ukraine Called on the UN Security Council for a Ceasefire Resolution and the Removal of Russia from Peacekeeping ...](https://www.bagnet.org/news/politics/1399468/ukraina-prizvala-sovbez-oon-k-rezolyutsii-o-prekrashchenii-ognya-i-otstranenii-rf-ot-mirotvorcheskih-missiy) - Контекст: призыв к резолюции о прекращении огня на площадке Совбеза.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Who and where stated that Russia is already losing the war?
**A:** This was stated by Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, during a UN Security Council meeting.

### Q: What losses of the Russian army did Melnyk cite?
**A:** According to his estimate, Russia is losing no fewer than 30–35,000 military personnel each month, and the rate of losses exceeds the capacity to recruit new contract soldiers.

### Q: Whom, according to Melnyk, is Russia recruiting into its army?
**A:** Prisoners, migrants, recently naturalized citizens, and mercenaries, while also offering ever-larger payments in the regions.

### Q: Are the loss figures independently confirmed?
**A:** No, this is an estimate by the Ukrainian side; the Russian delegation does not confirm such data, which is why they are placed in the “Contradictory Data” block in the article.