January 29th, 2026: Russia’s Unprecedented Losses & Sanctions Shift In Venezuela
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Today is Thursday, the 29th of January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. As you may notice, my home remedies for my voice have not worked yet. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears and sort of your voice on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up nearly four years into Putin's invasion of Ukraine a new report finds the scale of Moscow's battlefield losses now exceeds those suffered across all of its conflicts since World War two combined I'll have those details Later in the show, the U.S. moves to ease sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry, part of Washington's push to reopen and stabilize the country's economy after Maduro's removal. Plus, President Trump ramps up his warnings to Iran, threatening severe consequences if the regime refuses to reach a deal.
And in today's back of the brief, a public clash between Poland's foreign minister and Elon Musk, following reports that Russia may be exploiting Starlink on the battlefield. Plus later, I'll ask for your home remedies again, see what we can do about this voice. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. It's been almost four years since Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border, launching Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of the country. Now, back in February of 2022, many assumed, of course, that the war would be brutal, but brief, a quick decapitation strike, a rapid collapse of Ukraine's defenses. That was the thinking. That didn't happen. And a new study shows the human cost of what followed is far greater than most people could have imagined at the time.
A major study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies paints a stark picture of a war defined not by sweeping victories, but by relentless attrition. According to the study, the number of Russian and Ukrainian troops killed, wounded, or missing after nearly four years of fighting is approaching a historic scale. Now, casualty figures in this war have always been difficult to pin down. We know this. The Kremlin routinely undercounts its dead and wounded, while Ukraine doesn't release official numbers at all. To get around that, the CSIS study relies on a mix of U.S. and British intelligence estimates, along with open-source reporting and battlefield analysis. The result is not a precise headcount, but a credible accounting of the war's staggering toll.
Based on that analysis, CSIS estimates that Russia has suffered close to 1.2 million troops killed, wounded or missing since the invasion began, with roughly 325,000 of those believed to be deaths. Ukrainian losses are estimated at roughly 500,000 to 600,000 casualties, including between 100,000 and 140,000 troops killed. Taken together, the study puts combined military casualties for both sides at nearly 1.8 million so far, with that figure continuing to rise, of course, as the fighting drags on. To put that in historical context, the study notes that no major military power has endured losses on this scale since World War II.
What are the staggering battlefield losses Russia has faced in Ukraine?
Even more striking, a large share of Russia's casualties has become recently, with hundreds of thousands recorded over the past year alone. What stands out most is not just the number of lives lost, but what those losses have produced on the battlefield. According to CSIS, Russian forces have made painfully slow progress, in some areas advancing just dozens of feet per day. Since early 2024... Russia has seized only a tiny fraction of Ukrainian territory, even as it continues to occupy roughly one-fifth of the country overall. The exchange rate is brutal, enormous human sacrifice for minimal territorial gain. It's World War I all over again. This is the defining feature of the war at this stage. Russia is not maneuvering its way to victory.
It's grinding forward, incrementally, methodologically, and at an enormous cost. The way the war is being fought helps explain why. The battlefield is now saturated with drones. Heavy armor and large-scale maneuvers have become increasingly vulnerable, forcing both sides to adapt. Russian forces in particular have shifted toward small-unit assaults.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:12–3:27
2
What are the staggering battlefield losses Russia has faced in Ukraine?
3:27–4:44
3
How is the U.S. planning to ease sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry?
4:44–6:29
4
What are President Trump's recent warnings to Iran regarding nuclear negotiations?
6:29–7:12
5
What sparked the public clash between Poland's foreign minister and Elon Musk?
7:12–9:04
6
How has the war in Ukraine evolved over the past four years?
9:04–22:07
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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