The number of Russian soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine is approaching 200,000 after 11 months of war, 8 times more than that of American soldiers in two decades of conflict in Afghanistan: this is the estimate of American and Western leaders, writes the New York Times.
The latest public estimate by the Biden government dates back to November, when the chief of the joint staff Mark Milley spoke of over 100,000 dead and wounded soldiers on both sides.
The clashes at Soledar and Bakhmut caused the numbers to soar, with the sending of the less well-prepared troops to the front line.
Moscow is sending poorly trained recruits, including detainees, to the front lines in eastern Ukraine to pave the way for more experienced fighters, according to US and allied officials consulted by the NYT.
The result is that there are hundreds of people killed and injured every day.
The sources warn that casualties are notoriously difficult to estimate, particularly as Moscow is believed to regularly underestimate them.
Ukraine's casualty figures are also difficult to ascertain,
given Kiev's reluctance to disclose its wartime losses.
But even Bakhmut's Kiev sometimes saw hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers killed and wounded every day as well.
