The Russian offensive, accentuated in Donbass in recent weeks and aimed at Bakhmut and its surroundings, as well as Vuhledar, Avdiivka and west of Kremina, may bring some territorial gains – the mercenaries of the Wagner group announced the capture of another village, Krasna Hora , north of Bakhmut – but the human cost will be high, if we believe the data provided by the Ukrainian armed forces and analyzed by the British Defense intelligence services.
More Russian soldiers will die in Ukraine this month than ever since the first week of the invasion, according to Ukrainian data. According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 6,490 soldiers died on the Russian side last week, amounting to an average of 927 soldiers per day, while last week’s data showed 824 Russian soldiers died every 24 hours.
These figures were only surpassed the week of the start of the special military operation, in which Kiev estimated the number of daily deaths at 1,140. a number that should be viewed with caution, although in November the US Chief of Staff put the number killed and wounded for each side at 100,000.
These figures are not confirmed by other sources, but for London the trends are “probably correct”.
The increase in deaths comes in the wake of what Kiev calls a “massive offensive” launched by Russia. “Our forces are repelling very strongly,” said Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. “The offensive they planned is happening gradually, but it’s not the offensive they envisioned.” Russia is facing “major problems”.
“The increase in Russian casualties is likely due to a number of factors, including a lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources at the front – this is exemplified in Vuhledar and Bakhmut,” the defense ministry’s intelligence agency said.
In Vuhledar alone, a failed attack cost Russian forces more than 30 armored vehicles and the destruction of a brigade, days after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu praised the “successes” in that part of Donetsk.
On the Ukrainian side, there is no record of its casualties, although “it also continues to suffer a high loss rate,” London said.
Force chief Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin said he captured a village near the devastated city of Bakhmut, indicating no Russian army personnel were nearby. The statement suggests that tensions between the Russian army and Wagner continued after Prigozhin ended recruitment in prison and could only claim victory in the capture of Soledar, north of Bakhmut.
On the day Prigozhin brags about taking Krasna Hora, two prisoners who went to the war front — between another 40,000 to 50,000 — and ended up being held by Ukrainian soldiers spoke to CNN. They were promised to reinforce a second line to “fight the Nazis” and six months would be rewarded with money, freedom and a clean resume. “We thought we were fighting the Poles and several mercenaries. Germans. We thought there was no one left of the Ukrainian army that had left the country,” one of them said.
Both testify to the tactics of the group, who launch waves of unprepared soldiers one after the other to find death or, in the case of these two, capture.
Source: DN
