‘Fair Assessment’: Biden’s Claim that Russian Military Has Been ‘Freaking Decimated’ Supported By Time Fact Check

“Freaking decimated” is how President Joe Biden described the state of the Russian military following challenges they’ve faced during their invasion of Ukraine. And according to a fact check of that comment, it’s a fair description.

Biden sat with TIME magazine for a lengthy interview about US foreign policy under his administration. Obviously, US aid to Ukraine to stop the invasion of the Russian military has been a significant part of Biden’s foreign policy, and as a result of military funding, Russia forces have been significantly damaged.

Time’s Massimo Calabresi asked about Vladimir Putin’s “aims” in the context of the “difficult situation in Ukraine,” noting how the war is stalled and that over 40 Ukrainians are killed and wounded every day.

Biden refuted the idea that a Russian proposal to end the war ostensibly for land seized is the “best that Ukraine can hope for” but hit back by noting how Russia has been “freaking decimated.” From the transcript:

TIME: So understanding Putin’s aims, the world, the West, the United States, and you find yourselves facing a difficult situation in Ukraine. The war is stalled every day, an average of 42 Ukrainian civilians are killed or wounded. Is Russia’s proposal for, to end the war in Ukraine, the best that Ukraine can hope for at this point?

Biden: No, it’s not. And by the way, I don’t know why you skip over all that’s happened in the meantime. The Russian military has been decimated. You don’t write about that. It’s been freaking decimated. Number one.

Number two, NATO is considerably stronger than it was when I took office. I put it together. Not only did I reestablish the fact that it was the strongest alliance in the history of the world, I was able to expand it. While I was in one of the G7 meetings in Europe. when I got back I called on the President of Finland because when I had met earlier in the year with Putin, he said he wanted to see the Finlandization of NATO. I told him, he’s gonna get not the Finlandization, the Natoization of Finland. And everybody thought, including you guys, thought I was crazy.

Wordsmiths will note that “decimated” technically means the removal or destruction by 10%, and is often misused to connote something in far state more ruinous state.

This was the point made by TIME fact-checkers, who literally called this portion of the interview a “fair” representation, citing a Reuters report on US intel:

The Facts: This is a fair assessment, according to a Reuters report on a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment provided to Congress. The intelligence determined that Russia had 360,000 active military personnel when it invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. By December of last year, 315,000 Russian troops had been either killed or injured in the war—a reduction in troop strength by 87%. Even by the technical definition of the word “decimate”—to reduce to 1/10th of the original—Biden’s characterization is accurate.

So there it is. The Russian military HAS been decimated, and to Biden’s point, that is a story that is underreported in the realm of political news media.

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