Russia: Spike in Disabled Men Linked to War
Over 500,000 men between the ages of 31 and 59 were designated as having disabilities in Russia last year, according to data from the Pension Fund and Social Insurance Fund, as reported by the independent Russian publication Verstka.
A record number of young men with disabilities, aged 18-30, was also recorded in 2023: 290,000 people. Data for this age group for 2022 has been classified by the Russian authorities, according to Russian journalists.
Demographer Alexei Raksha told Verstka that the increase in the number of men with disabilities is most likely due to military casualties. "I believe there are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of disabled military veterans," he said.
This data was presented in the daily Ukraine update by the British intelligence services. According to the British Ministry of Defense, this increase in the number of people with disabilities is "almost certainly" caused by the high number of casualties in the war in Ukraine. According to Western estimates, the Russian army has so far lost over 355,000 people (dead and wounded) in Ukraine. From the autumn of 2023 to the present, the Russians have suffered record losses, with the peak being reached in February 2024: 983 servicemen lost (killed/wounded) on the battlefield in one day, according to British sources.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
