Military Casualty Numbers Tell The Story of Russia-Ukraine Conflict
"[The US and its allies had delivered nearly 100,000 anti-tank systems.] That’s more than there are tanks in the world.""They asked for 200 tanks; they got 237 tanks. They asked for 100 infantry fighting vehicles; they got over 300. We’ve delivered, roughly speaking, 1,600 or so air defense systems and about 60,000 air defense rounds.?"We have also provided over 1,500 Stingers, more than 700 Switchblade tactical unmanned aerial systems, 20 Mi-17 and thousands of small arms and hundreds of thousands of small arms ammunition.""Ukraine is taking 100 killed and 100 or 200 or 300 wounded per day. I would say those are in the ballpark of our assessments.""In terms of artillery, they [Russia] do outnumber, they out-gun and out-range. The Russians do outnumber—in terms of artillery, they outnumber the Ukrainians. The estimate varies, some say four, five, six to one, others say 10, 15 to one, others say 20 to one."U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley
 | |||||||||||
| Ukrainian soldier inspects the wreckage of a destroyed Russian armored column on the road, April 3, 2022, in Bucha, a suburb north of Kyiv (Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images) |
To the present time, it is the belief of the United States that Russia's military has undergone hundreds of casualties and continues to suffer even more, on a daily basis through its violent invasion of Ukraine. It has lost to this point an estimation of thousands of lieutenants and captains. The Russian chain of command is struggling, according to a senior American defence official.
Russian forces, contrary to their initial expectations, are grinding, close to five months since the start of the 24 February invasion are slowly struggling through the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, in the process occupying roughly a fifth of Ukraine's immense territory, second in size only to Russia's own territory, in eastern Europe.
Russian casualties are estimated at 14,000 military personnel killed, with approximately 45,000 wounded, according to CIA Director William Burns. Ukraine, he added parenthetically, also has endured significant casualties in the defence of its homeland. Ukrainian morale is high, Russian morale is not. Ukrainians are motivated to continue doggedly and often successfully defending itself to the point where a turnaround occurs and defence becomes counter-offence.
Along with and in addition to the number of lieutenants and captains killed, there have been hundreds of colonels who failed to survive their nation's ill-conceived invasion of its neighbour. The fact that "many" Russian generals have lost their lives in Ukraine is also indisputable. "The chain of command is still struggling", stated the unidentified American official.
 |
| The body of a soldier without insignia, believed to be a Russian serviceman, lies on a road outside Kharkiv early in the invasion. |
Even in non-conflict times, military deaths are classified as state secrets by the Kremlin which has failed to update its official casualty figures during the conflict. This is beyond doubt fairly prudent since to release that information to the Russian public would certainly garner a backlash of unrestrained anger, leading to inconvenient public protests, to be avoided at all costs.
The cost of truth long since abandoned, since that too is a Russian tradition. Back in March, a full month since the February invasion date, Moscow gave a figure of 1,351 Russian soldiers killed. In June the government of Kyiv admitted that 100 to 200 Ukrainian troops were losing their lives every day in defence of their country.
Ukraine destroyed over 100 "high-value" Russian targets within Ukraine, including command posts, ammunition depots and air-defence sites -- more information released by the United States, which has provided $8.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the war erupted. The Pentagon stated earlier in the week its plans to provide Ukraine with four more high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to be included in the latest weapons packet.
 |
| Ukrainian service members prepare to shoot from a M777 Howitzer at a front line, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich |
Labels: Casualties, Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Russian Military, Ukrainian Military
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, July 26, 2022
<< Home