About 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the year-long battle against the Russian invasion, Politico reported, citing unnamed US officials.
This comes amid grueling fighting since February 24, 2022, with a constantly shifting front line across the eastern Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, and Mykolaiv.
This also includes Russian missile and artillery attacks on other parts of the country, such as the central provinces of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Odessa, and even as far west as Lviv.
For its part, Russia has also suffered heavy casualties in the war.
According to recent information from the Ukrainian Army, Russia has lost so far:
- 163,320 soldiers
- 305 aircraft
- 290 helicopters
- 2,145 drones
- 265 air defense systems
- 2,552 artillery systems
- 504 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
- 18 ships
- 3,506 battle tanks
- 6,823 armored fighting vehicles
- 5,401 fuel tanker trucks and other vehicles
It should be noted that these death figures, both from Russian and Ukrainian sources, are difficult to verify.
Ukraine-Russia War: the fierce fighting around Bakhmut
Currently, the fiercest battlefield of the ongoing war is around the city of Bakhmut, in Donetsk Oblast.
Russian forces, together with mercenaries from the Wagner Group, have been besieging the city for several months and have destroyed much of it, although Ukrainian forces have managed to constantly hold some ground.
According to the BBC, between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in and around Bakhmut, and earlier this week Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensk stated that 1,100 Russian soldiers had been killed in the area in the previous days. NATO figures also put the ratio at five Russian soldiers killed for every Ukrainian, although these numbers are questionable and always changing.
In addition, it is not clear what the strategic value of the city may be for either side, although both Russia and Ukraine have stressed the importance of the city.
According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Bakhmut’s importance is more symbolic than strategic.
Another big concern for the United States is Ukrainian supplies.
