Russian losses to Ukrainian drones surge in early October, Madyar says
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Russian casualties attributed to Ukrainian drone strikes rose sharply during the first five days of October compared with the same period in August and September, Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, known by his callsign "Madyar," said on Oct. 6.
Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5, Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces recorded 2,699 Russian troops killed or wounded, compared with 1,931 during the same period in September, Brovdi said in a Telegram post. The figure represents a 39.7% increase, according to Brovdi.
Compared with the first five days of August, the reported number of Russian casualties was 76.5% higher, rising from 1,529 to 2,699.
The largest increase was recorded in the area of responsibility of the Ukrainian National Guard's 1st "Azov" Corps, covering the Dobropillia-Pokrovsk sector in Donetsk Oblast, according to Brovdi.
Ukrainian drone operators recorded 1,268 Russian troops killed or wounded in that area during the first five days of October, compared with 884 in the same period in September — a 43% increase. The figure was almost twice as high as the 664 casualties recorded during the first five days of August, representing a 91% increase, Brovdi said.
The figures cited by Brovdi cover only casualties attributed to Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces and do not include casualties from other Ukrainian military units.
Ukraine's General Staff said on Oct. 1 that Russian forces suffered an estimated 46,230 personnel losses in September, the highest monthly figure recorded by Ukraine so far in 2026.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on drones to inflict casualties and disrupt Russian operations along the front line.
Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center and a former Ukrainian Defense Ministry official, told the Kyiv Independent in May that drones now account for 70% to 80% of Russian casualties. FPV drones often carry enough explosives to kill a soldier outright, he said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in July that Russia has lost more than 1.5 million troops killed or wounded since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The figures cannot be independently verified, and Moscow does not publish comprehensive casualty data.
Russia has so far avoided announcing another nationwide mobilization, instead relying on an increasingly coercive recruitment system to replenish its forces.
Moscow uses financial incentives, regional recruitment quotas, pressure on businesses and public institutions, recruitment of students and reservists, as well as the enlistment of foreign nationals and residents of occupied Ukrainian territories to sustain its military manpower.
Ukrainian intelligence has also said Russia's General Staff is prepared to mobilize around 300,000 people in 2026 and another 300,000 in 2027 if needed.
