[Goose]

Looking back 20 years ago, Russia had about 4000 births per day, which you would expect would be about half male and half female.  If they are losing 1000 soldiers a day, that is basically half the male population coming of age every year killed or wounded, plus however many Russians leave so as to avoid the war.  So, mathematically, yes, they can continue the fight indefinitely, though it will leave a of immense proportions demographic hole.

Indeed it will. The birth rate is presently falling anyway, so the demographic hole will indeed be a massive issue. This is one reason the North Korean troops are so important to Russia. 30K "foreign mercenaries" gives Russia another twenty days of war. There are unfortunately more where those came from. Putin doesn't care much about the demographic problem. Long-term planning doesn't seem to be his thing, since the question of what to do with Ukraine once he gets it will be a big problem as well. He will now be lord and master of a desperately poor country that is now also depopulated and destroyed. What could be better?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-korean-...00222.html
In for a penny....

Of course, the effect is even more substantial for Ukraine; their fighting age male population (18 to 40) is about 1/4 that of Russia, so unless they are able to inflict a 4:1 casualty ratio, their prospects are worse than Russia's.

BC

Everybody and their brother should have realized this from day 1. Ukraine's only chance at victory was to beat Russia before Russia could mobilize their much greater resources. A war of attrition always has favored Russia. NATO realizes the same thing. In a conventional war, NATO has to very quickly become the hammer, not the anvil. Its ability to absorb long-term losses is not as great as the Russian one, despite NATO having a larger population. NATO has a much lower pain (both social and political) than Russia does. Our military is designed to do exactly that. That said, given the current state of our military I don't see any "thunder runs" to save Ukraine in our future, even if the political will were there.

[Goose]

Looking back 20 years ago, Russia had about 4000 births per day, which you would expect would be about half male and half female.  If they are losing 1000 soldiers a day, that is basically half the male population coming of age every year killed or wounded, plus however many Russians leave so as to avoid the war.  So, mathematically, yes, they can continue the fight indefinitely, though it will leave a of immense proportions demographic hole.

Indeed it will. The birth rate is presently falling anyway, so the demographic hole will indeed be a massive issue. This is one reason the North Korean troops are so important to Russia. 30K "foreign mercenaries" gives Russia another twenty days of war. There are unfortunately more where those came from. Putin doesn't care much about the demographic problem. Long-term planning doesn't seem to be his thing, since the question of what to do with Ukraine once he gets it will be a big problem as well. He will now be lord and master of a desperately poor country that is now also depopulated and destroyed. What could be better?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/north-korean-...00222.html
In for a penny....

Of course, the effect is even more substantial for Ukraine; their fighting age male population (18 to 40) is about 1/4 that of Russia, so unless they are able to inflict a 4:1 casualty ratio, their prospects are worse than Russia's.

BC

Everybody and their brother should have realized this from day 1. Ukraine's only chance at victory was to beat Russia before Russia could mobilize their much greater resources. A war of attrition always has favored Russia. NATO realizes the same thing. In a conventional war, NATO has to very quickly become the hammer, not the anvil. Its ability to absorb long-term losses is not as great as the Russian one, despite NATO having a larger population. NATO has a much lower pain (both social and political) than Russia does. Our military is designed to do exactly that. That said, given the current state of our military I don't see any "thunder runs" to save Ukraine in our future, even if the political will were there.