Russia paying in blood and money as Putin counts the cost of invading Ukraine
Russia is paying an extremely high price for its invasion of Ukraine.
Nearly a million Russian soldiers have been killed or injured, the country’s economy is in freefall and Nato has expanded its presence along its eastern flank.
The war in Ukraine may be entering its next phase as the US tries to broker a deal, but for Russia the cost of reaching this point has been immense.
Vladimir Putin had expected victory to be swift, but instead, three years on, Moscow is isolated.
The war is affecting every part of Russian life, with US defence officials estimating the war in Ukraine has so far cost the Kremlin more than $200bn - twice the size of its annual defence budget.
Russia's defence industry has also lost $10bn in arms sales.
On the battlefield Russian forces have suffered 840,000 casualties, with independent Russian media outlets estimating that 165,000 of those soldiers have been killed in action.
Kyiv says it's destroyed 20,000 Russian combat vehicles plus an additional 10,000 tanks, as well as 369 Russian planes and 331 helicopters.
Nine generals have also lost their lives in the fighting.
The Black Sea Fleet, once the pride of the Russian Navy, has been decimated - including the loss of its flagship, the Moskva.
Despite launching over 10,000 missiles, Russia has also failed to destroy Ukraine's power grid.
At the same time, Nato has strengthened its eastern flank, adding 800 miles to its border with Russia after Finland and Sweden joined the alliance.
Advanced Western weapons systems like Storm Shadow and ATACMS have proved to be better than anything Russia can produce.
Ukrainian forces even entered Russia's Kursk region five months ago, with Moscow still unable to dislodge them despite bringing in North Korean troops for support.
The once bottomless stockpiles of Soviet-era weapons has also been largely exhausted, with Russia forced to do deals with Iran and North Korea to obtain munitions and missiles.
Moscow is having to pay out millions to recruit contract soldiers, and last year around 300,000 signed up to fight, each receiving a lump sum of around $1,900.
But reports indicate the Kremlin is struggling to pay them.
To cut costs, it’s had to drastically cut the compensation offered to injured troops.
Economically, Russia is also reeling.
The Kremlin is now spending 6.2% of GDP on defence, with 40% of Russia's state budget now going to the military and weapons production.
Severe sanctions have crippled industries, while the country's vastly lucrative oil and gas markets are gradually slipping away.
In 2023 Gazprom reported a net loss of $7bn, its first loss for 20 years.
With that revenue stream shattered, the Kremlin has had to raid Russia's wealth fund, cutting the country's "rainy day" reserves from $117bn in 2021 to just $55bn now.
Interest rates have surged to 21%, with consumer loans soaring to as high as 50%, with the official inflation rate at around 9% - but in reality it's much higher.
House prices have risen 16-fold and the price of potatoes, a staple food, has risen by more than 70%.
All of this has sparked a brain drain, with a million educated Russians leaving the country for life elsewhere.
On the geopolitical front, Russia has lost its bases in Syria and failed to save Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Moscow has stepped up defence production and is just about managing to cover its losses.
But it will still take decades for Russia to restore its military, and after three years of brutal fighting Ukraine still controls 80% of its territory.
Kyiv is also increasingly using technology to counter Russia's superior mass.
As the cost of Russia's Special Military Operation continues to soar, one thing is clear: President Putin's war has strayed a long way from his initial plan.
And that has devastating consequences for the nation he so firmly rules.
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