The latest figures released by Kyiv suggest that the number of Russian losses in Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has surpassed 150,000.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that 715 Russian soldiers had been killed since the last count on Wednesday, taking the total to 150,605.
Ukraine’s forces are continuing to hold their positions in the ruined city of Bakhmut, despite Russian advances from three sides.
The months-long battle for the city has been compared to a First World War ‘meat grinder’, with Russia suffering tens of thousands of casualties while making only marginal gains in the region.
While Ukraine has not officially released figures on its losses, it is believed to have lost thousands in its fight to keep hold of the city. Military analyst Oleh Zhdanov described the situation in Bakhmut as ‘critical’, with Russian soldiers being carried off the battlefield ‘like a conveyor belt’.
Although Ukraine believes Bakhmut has limited strategic value, it has put up fierce resistance, aiming to inflict as many Russian losses as possible and use up its ammunition and resources.
The war has exposed Russia’s reliance on antiquated Soviet-era tactics, employing slow-moving, ageing armoured vehicles against a modernised Ukraine force that has used small, more mobile units with modern tech, such as drones, to stay agile. Footage released on Thursday showed Ukraine’s forces targeting Russian tanks around Bakhmut, dropping explosives down on top of the armoured vehicles – where their protection is weakest.
The war has taken a toll on civilians, with thousands remaining in the ruined city of Bakhmut, which had a pre-war population of about 70,000.
There were more civilian casualties on Thursday as missiles struck Zaporizhzhia. Russia has mounted regular missile strikes on power stations in what Ukraine said was a calculated strategy to destroy civilian morale.
Ukraine and its Western allies describe Russia’s war as unprovoked, with the aim of crushing its European-leaning neighbour, which was part of the Soviet Union until its break-up in 1991. Russia accuses the West of provoking what it calls its ‘special military operation’ to eliminate security threats and of prolonging the conflict by backing the Kyiv government with weapons.
Russia’s top lawmaker has introduced amendments to a wartime censorship law that would increase the penalty for discrediting the army from five to 15 years in jail and extend the law to cover the Wagner mercenary force. Moscow introduced sweeping censorship laws shortly after ordering tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine a year ago.
A Russian defence ministry journal has said Moscow is developing a new type of military strategy using nuclear weapons to protect against possible U.S. aggression, the RIA news agency reported on Thursday. The article is the latest in a series of combative remarks by Russian politicians and commentators following the invasion of Ukraine that have suggested Russia would, if necessary, be prepared to deploy its nuclear arsenal.
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