The war in Ukraine continues to take a large toll on the Russian military.
In the past week alone, the Russian forces have lost close to 5,000 men in what has been the deadliest week of the war in Ukraine.
On the 353rd day of the war, the two sides are looking for a breakthrough, with the heaviest fighting taking place in the Donbas around Bakhmut and Vuhledar.
Russian Casualties in Ukraine
Saturday was the deadliest day in the war so far for Russian troops in Ukraine.
According to official Ukrainian estimates, the Russian forces lost 1,140 killed or wounded in the past 24 hours.
To be sure, the Ukrainian estimates could be off, but the overall numbers that the Ukrainians are claiming are corroborated to a large degree by U.S. and Western intelligence estimates.
The heavy casualties that the Russian military is taking are bound to catch up sooner or later.
The Kremlin has created a reserve force of around 150,000 troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense has been maintaining that force as a strategic reserve.
Since October, it has been training and equipping that force for future large-scale offensive operations.
But the casualties the Russian units have been taking on the ground might force the Kremlin to hijack its plan and deploy some of these troops to plug gaps on the frontlines.
Overall, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Saturday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 136,880 Russian troops (and wounded approximately twice to thrice that number),
Destroyed equipment inclides 295 fighter, attack, bomber, and transport jets, 286 attack and transport helicopters, 3,267 tanks, 2,270 artillery pieces, 6,474 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 463 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 18 boats and cutters, 5,134 vehicles and fuel tanks, 234 anti-aircraft batteries, 1,997 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 214 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 857 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
The Fighting for Bakhmut and Vuhledar
The foothold of the Russian forces in the northern part of Bakhmut is becoming increasingly stronger.
After capturing the small salt mining of Soledar in the north of the Bakhmut, the Russian forces have advanced a few kilometers to the north of the town.
The infamous private military company Wagner Group has pushed between 1-2 miles to the west of the northern outskirts of Bakhmut.
It controls the countryside close the highway M-03, which is one of the main supply routes leading into the town.
There is also heavy fighting in the south of the Donbas, especially around the town of Vuhledar. The Russian forces have been trying to capture the town for several months now, but have repeatedly failed, suffering heavy casualties in the process.
“Russian units have likely suffered particularly heavy casualties around Vuhledar as inexperienced units have been committed. Russian troops likely fled and abandoned at least 30 mostly intact armoured vehicles in a single incident after a failed assault,” the British Military Intelligence assessed in its latest estimate of the war in Ukraine.
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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. He is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Strategy and Cybersecurity at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
TheDon
February 12, 2023 at 6:51 pm
Wagner and military should overthrow putin.
Hes insane.
No one wants this war but Putin.
Webej
February 13, 2023 at 12:48 am
Ha Ha. An analyst that get numbers from Ukraine, a country in which fake accounting is its main international export product.
Russia is shooting about 10× the ordinance. That is a good indication of the ratio in casualties. The number of shot down cruise missiles is obviously fake, more targets are hit than missiles that survive every time.
dave
February 13, 2023 at 8:36 am
lol.. uh huh.
And Iraq had WMDs.
mawendt
February 13, 2023 at 9:20 am
As the knuckleheads arguing about Russian losses congregate as they do, I want to deflate them in advance.
Ukraine has picture and video proof of about 80% of the equipment they’ve destroyed. Estimating a 2 to 5 man crew would mean between 30,000 and 100,000 CREW members, not counting infantry losses…
A winner doesn’t hire PMC’s like Wagner, or have an emergency mobilization of 150k troops. Or pull 3,000 thirty to forty year armor out of mothballs. Or buy foreign ammunition like crazy. Russia is losing slowly.
So suck it up. 100k dead and 300k wounded is not an unreasonable number. Even cut by half shows Russia bleeding to death for no good reason.
Alejandro Pelota
February 13, 2023 at 10:27 am
It astounds me how people can fabricate and construct out of thin air a version of events that makes them feel good about themselves, regardless of reality, just blurting out pure hopeful thinking delusions for a dopamine hit and a few likes…Independent observers (not Putin apologists) based on available & confirmed information specify Ukrainian loses in 250,0000 with over 60,000 wounded. The same group identified Russian loses of less than 20,000 with 8,000 wounded. That’s 12 to 1 ratio of Ukranian to Russian loses… Those are fact and not alternative reality author is pushing.
ralph martin
February 13, 2023 at 12:32 pm
So lets say what you say is true about Russian military. If they are losing but holding back their biggest weapon what do you think their last resort will be?
MaxAmoeba
February 13, 2023 at 2:21 pm
One would hope to escape delusional at least in military reporting, but alas, it seems the WOKEtards have found their way here as well.
iGreg
February 13, 2023 at 3:30 pm
We have been told for the past year that Putin is dying and the Russians can’t win. Also for the past year, the Russians have annexed eastern regions of Ukraine, while simultaneously holding onto Crimea. On top of that, Putin is still alive and remains popular with the Russian people (far more popular with his people than major Western leaders).
Max
February 13, 2023 at 8:27 pm
Western ignorance is rampant. Wokeness will be the death of every person on earth. Russia and China will not let their children be influenced and then mutilated with Frankenstein transgender insanity. They will eventually sterilize the west with Nukes. It’s the only way to eliminate the diseased libtard agenda.
dave
February 14, 2023 at 1:19 am
The Russians still running out of ammo too??? LOL!