White House spokesman for national security John Kirby said on Monday, citing newly released intelligence documents. The numbers were based on US intelligence estimates. Kirby describes the Russian offensive on Bakhmut as a failure. The US data are just as little independently verifiable as those of Kiev or Moscow.
In November, Army Chief General Mark Milley estimated that Russia had recorded well over 100,000 soldiers killed and wounded in its own ranks in the first eight months of the war against Ukraine. If these and the new numbers are correct, it would mean that the number of Russian casualties has risen dramatically in recent months.
USA emphasizes high losses
Kirby said the Wagner militiamen were “sent into combat with no necessary training.” But also the strategic planning and the leadership of the soldiers are completely inadequate. The White House has repeatedly tried to highlight the high Russian casualties in soldiers and weapons around Bakhmut. This is all the more remarkable since, according to the US assessment, Bachmut had only limited strategic importance for the overall course of the war.
Admittedly, there are also opposing opinions in the West, according to which the capture of Bakhmut would help advance towards larger cities such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. Even Kiev itself, which months ago downplayed the importance of Bakhmut for a long time, but has since been engaged in a bitter and costly trench warfare there, recently repeatedly warned that conquering Bakhmut’s Russian troops would open the way to Kramatorsk.
Drone War in Ukraine
Drones are much cheaper than tanks and howitzers and much quicker to learn to operate. Both the Russians and the Ukrainians are successful in using drones – this is confirmed not only by the battlefields in eastern Ukraine, but also by the recent shelling of a Russian oil storage facility on the Crimean peninsula. Kiev wants to catch up and has started a donation program.
Russian air raids
According to Ukrainian information, one person was killed and three others injured in renewed Russian attacks in Ukraine on Monday in the Cherson region. In the city of Pavlohrad in the south-eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, 34 people were injured, the Ukrainian authorities said. 15 of 18 cruise missiles were shot down by the air defenses. The capital Kiev and other major cities, which also had air alerts, remained protected.
Fatal impacts were reported from Pavlohrad, a railway junction behind the southern and eastern fronts. 19 blocks of flats, 25 houses, three schools, three kindergartens and several shops were damaged. An industrial company was hit and a major fire broke out in the area. Three children were among the 34 injured.
Kremlin speaks of “military targets”
Russia, on the other hand, spoke of night-time rocket attacks on military targets in Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense announced that all targets had been hit. These include weapons depots and ammunition factories. A Russian-appointed official in the occupied Zaporizhia region released images of the major fire in Pavlohrad and said Russian forces had attacked military targets there.
The Russian attacks also damaged power plants in the Dnepropetrovsk region and southern Kherson region, leaving thousands without power, the Energy Ministry said. Repairs to the power grid would take several days.
Work for offensive “in final phase”
According to Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine’s preparations for the expected spring offensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories are “in the final phase”. “I think that as of today we can turn onto the home straight and say: Yes, everything is ready,” said Resnikov. “And then, based on the decision and understanding the situation on the battlefield, the General Staff, the Commander-in-Chief and his team will decide how, where and when,” the minister said.
Like Ukraine’s international partners, he is convinced of the success of the offensive. After all, Kiev’s partners understand that success “is in the security interests of their countries and their people.”
Trenches also in Russia itself
“Images show that Russia has made special efforts to fortify the northern border of occupied (Ukrainian peninsula) Crimea,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Monday. Hundreds of kilometers of trenches have also been dug on Russian territory, including in the Belgorod and Kursk regions that border Ukraine.
