On the 299th day of the war in Ukraine, the Russian forces are trying every trick in the book to stem the tides of defeat.
The Russian Casualties in Ukraine: 100,000 Dead?
The Russian forces, mercenaries and regular military alike, continue to take extremely heavy casualties on the ground. With the current rate of daily casualties, the Russian forces are set to lose more than 100,000 troops killed (and twice to thrice that number wounded and sick) before the year is out.
Overall, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Monday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 98,800 Russian troops (and wounded approximately twice to thrice that number), destroyed 281 fighter, attack, bomber, and transport jets, 264 attack and transport helicopters, 2,987 tanks, 1,948 artillery pieces, 5,963 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 410 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 16 boats and cutters, 4,579 vehicles and fuel tanks, 211 anti-aircraft batteries, 1,649 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 174 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 653 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
How Wagner Group Operates
The infamous private military company Wagner Group has been playing an increasingly important role in the so-called Russian “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The Wagner Group has been operating as a paramilitary organization in Ukraine, often taking the lead instead of the Russian military.
In the fight for the town of Bakhmut in the Donbas, in particular, the Wagner Group has been the leading Russian fighting force—though recently, it has been bolstered by mobilized Russian reservists.
According to British Military Intelligence, the Russian private military company has developed some “innovative” tactical approaches to incorporate the large numbers of poorly trained personnel, including prison convicts, it has recently recruited.
Wanger Group mercenaries are “likely issued a smart phone or tablet” with the grids of the individual troop’s objective and designated axis of advance overlaid on commercial satellite imagery.
The mercenaries are then ordered to advance to their mission objective. According to the British Military Intelligence, Wagner Group “officers” over the platoon level “likely remain in cover” and order their troops forward through radio, using tactical unmanned aerial systems to monitor them in real-time on the battlefield.
“Individuals and sections are ordered to proceed on the preplanned route, often with fire-support, but less often alongside armoured vehicles. Wagner operatives who deviate from their assault routes without authorisation are likely being threatened with summary execution,” the British Military Intelligence assessed in its latest estimate of the war.
The Russian trooper in Ukraine today has to fear both the Ukrainians and his own commanders, a sure recipe for poor morale.
“These brutal tactics aim to conserve Wagner’s rare assets of experienced commanders and armoured vehicles, at the expense of the more readily available convict-recruits, which the organisation assesses as expendable,” the British Military Intelligence added.
The Russian war effort in Ukraine continues to falter. In the process, thousands of more men will get killed and all because Russian President Vladimir Putin’s grandiose plans that went terribly wrong.
Expert Biography: A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
