US military on the Ukraine war: "The numbers speak clearly for the Russians"

Created: 06/17/2022, 04:56

By: Julius Fastnacht, Tobias Utz, Isabel Wetzel, Andreas Apetz, Lucas Maier, Delia Friess

Soldiers on both sides are dying every day in the Ukraine war.

Meanwhile, Ukraine claims to have found Russian war plans.

The ticker.

• Ukraine reports Russian casualties:

  The Ukraine war is raging mainly in the east of the country.

• Heavy losses also on the Ukrainian side

  : Russia is reluctant to disclose its own casualty figures.

  Ukraine, on the other hand, reports heavy losses in its own ranks.

• This news ticker on the Ukraine conflict depicts the situation surrounding losses in the Ukraine war.

  The parties to the conflict are partly the source of the information.

  Information on the number of victims or the course of the war cannot be directly verified independently.

+++ 12.30 p.m .:

As several military experts have already analyzed, Russia probably assumed that it would be able to take Ukraine faster.

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov confirmed this assumption in an interview with CNN.

According to this, Kyiv should fall within 12 hours of the February 24 invasion, he said.

Targets of Russia: Document found on Russian military officer

He referred to a Russian document.

According to him, a document listing Russian military objectives was found on a Russian military officer who was killed during the invasion.

"They thought that in 12 hours they would be in the center of Kyiv," he said.

The Russians naively assumed that the Ukrainian government would flee the capital within 72 hours of invading, Reznikov said.

US military on the Ukraine war: "The numbers speak clearly for the Russians"

+++ 8.30 a.m .:

According to US General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, the fact that Russia can consolidate its control in eastern Ukraine is “not a done deal” – although Russia’s armed forces are superior in numbers and weapons to the Ukrainian ones, like the US Broadcaster CNN reported.

US General: 'There are no inevitabilities in war'

“In war there are no inevitabilities.

The war takes many, many turns.

So I wouldn't say it's inevitable," the US general said.

However, he also conceded that "the numbers are clearly in favor of the Russians." Milley said that the Ukrainian city of Seyerodonetsk was "probably three-quarters taken by Russian forces," but that "the Ukrainians were taking it street by street, house by fight house".

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Russian soldiers patrol the premises of the Azovstal Metallurgical Combine in Mariupol, which is controlled by the government of the Donetsk People's Republic.

© dpa

Ukraine war: US general describes current phase as “battle of attrition almost like in the First World War”

Milley also described the current phase of the war as a "very hard battle of attrition, almost like World War I" and pointed out that Russian advances in the region were "very slow and very laborious".

“The Russians encountered many problems.

You have command and control problems, logistical problems.

They have morale issues, leadership issues and a host of other issues," Milley said.

"And the Russians suffered an enormous number of casualties."

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Losses for Russia in the Ukraine war - Ukrainian partisans work in Mariupol

Update from Thursday, June 16, 6:50 a.m.:

As the Institute for Study of War reports, Russia is having difficulties implementing the occupation agenda due to pro-Ukrainian pressure in the occupied territories.

The US think tank, citing the Ukrainian Resistance Center, reported that unidentified Ukrainian partisans targeted Russian Emergencies Ministry employees in Mariupol on June 9 and 11.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military claims to have destroyed Russian equipment and ammunition depots on site.

The Ukrainian task force "East" reports that it has destroyed Russian military equipment, including an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier and an armored multi-role tracked vehicle.

The Russian army is said to have lost 34 soldiers in eastern Ukraine.

Heavy losses for Russia in the Ukraine war: New soldiers and tanks wanted

+++ 8:26 p.m .:

New recordings published by pro-Russian military are said to show separatists from the Luhansk People’s Republic fighting Ukrainian forces.

As the US magazine Newsweek reported, the militia claims to have inflicted casualties on the Ukrainian troops.

A statement attributed to an official of the self-declared People's Militia on Wednesday (June 15) said: "During the clashes (...) over the past day, the enemy suffered losses in personnel and military equipment, namely: 32 people;

4 armored personnel carriers;

7 vehicles.”

At the same time, the militia also made accusations against the Ukrainian military: “The enemy continues to terrorize the civilian population of the republic, shelling the civilian infrastructure of the frontline settlements of the Luhansk People’s Republic, which pose no threat to the enemy and have no military facilities are.” For example, an 11-year-old child was seriously injured in the Swatowe settlement as a result of a Ukrainian rocket attack.

However, the information provided by the militia cannot be independently verified.

Heavy losses for Russia in the Ukraine war: New soldiers and tanks wanted

+++ 3.45 p.m .:

Russia probably wants to further lower the thresholds for recruiting new soldiers.

Among other things, the criteria for health and crime statistics are to be softened.

+++ 1:45 p.m .:

The Ukrainian general staff published the latest statistics on Russia’s losses on Wednesday (June 15).

According to this, 32,750 soldiers have fallen out of the Russian army so far.

However, the information cannot be independently verified.

In addition, 1440 tanks are said to have been destroyed.

News about the Ukraine war: Heavy losses – Russia is probably looking for new soldiers

+++ 10.45 a.m .:

As the Bloomberg news agency reports, Russia may be a few months away from slowing down its “special operation” for a major restructuring.

After depleting much of its military capacity, Russia is looking for manpower and weapons, including old tanks, from the Far East, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed senior European officials.

Russia may also be forced to announce a mass mobilization to continue its struggle, officials said.

+++ 9:00 a.m .:

The Russian city of Klintsy (Brjansk region) near the Ukrainian border has apparently been under fire for days.

This is reported by the Moscow Times - with reference to the fact that the preliminary peak probably occurred on Tuesday (June 14).

Ukraine has therefore attacked a central military base in Klintsy.

Subsequently, a water and power failure is said to have occurred in the border town, which could, however, be remedied.

Already at the weekend there were explosions in neighboring districts, presumably caused by attacks by Ukrainian troops.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Update from Wednesday, June 15, 9:15 a.m .:

Ukrainian troops apparently shot down a Russian attack helicopter from the Russian army on Monday (June 13).

According to a report by Ukrainska Pravda, this happened in the Kharkiv region.

According to the report, the helicopter crashed near the settlements of Dovhenke and Sulyhivka.

The information relating to information from the 93rd Ukrainian Brigade cannot be independently verified.

+++ 11.30 a.m .:

The Ukrainian general staff has published new data on Russia’s losses in the Ukraine war.

These are from Sunday, June 12, as reported by the news portal Kyiv Independent.

According to this, around 32,200 soldiers have already fallen from the Russian military.

A total of 213 military aircraft, 1,432 tanks and 178 military helicopters were also destroyed.

The information cannot be independently verified.

War in Ukraine: Ukrainian side reports heavy Russian losses

+++ 2.30 p.m .:

Serhiy Hajdaj, governor of the Luhansk region, reported on Friday (June 10) that the Russian military was suffering heavy losses every day.

"The Russians have significantly more casualties than the Ukrainians," said Hajdaj. "They are dying like flies." However, he said he could not provide any information on Ukrainian losses.

He was addressing the very sparse data on Ukrainian losses.

However, Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov recently gave an insight: "Every day up to 100 of our soldiers are killed and up to 500 wounded." This was also confirmed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "Every day we lose 60 to 100 fallen soldiers and about 500 Wounded."

Ukraine War: Ukraine suffers heavy losses in battle for Sviatohirsk

+++ 9:00 a.m .:

Russia reported heavy losses in the Ukrainian army on Wednesday (June 8).

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine lost more than 300 fighters within three days in fighting around the city of Sviatohirsk alone.

In addition, 15 combat vehicles and 36 weapon systems were destroyed.

The information cannot be independently verified

Ukraine-News: Heavy losses for Russia - soldiers complain about heat, equipment and morale

First report from Wednesday, June 8:

Kiev – There has been a war in Ukraine for more than 100 days.

It is believed that there will be heavy losses on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.

While data on Russia's army is regularly released, data on Ukraine's military is very poor.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, more than 31,800 soldiers have fallen on the Russian side.

NATO and the British secret service, however, speak of around 20,000 dead armed forces.

Military casualties appear to be mounting, particularly as a result of the slowed-down offensive in the Donbass.

Recently, a military insider lamented the "miserable" conditions in the army.

This has now been confirmed by several videos of soldiers speaking of poor conditions in the Ukraine war.

"Our people have endured hunger and cold," the Guardian quoted a soldier from the 113th regiment stationed around Donetsk as saying from one of the videos.

"For a long period of time we were without any material, medical or catering support."

Ukraine-News: Heavy losses for Russia - "It's exhausting"

"Given our constant presence and the fact that our staff includes people with chronic medical conditions and mental health problems, many questions arise that are ignored by higher positions at headquarters." Another soldier laments the staffing of the headquarters, according to the report Troops: "It's exhausting, my whole unit wants a break, but our leadership has said they can't replace us at the moment."

This is confirmed by an analysis on the platform "War on the Rocks".

"The Russian military is well suited to short, high-intensity campaigns characterized by heavy use of artillery," analyze Michael Kofman and Rob Lee in the latest report.

“By contrast, it is ill-equipped for a permanent occupation or a grueling war of attrition that would require a large proportion of Russia's ground forces - and that is precisely the conflict it finds itself in.

The Russian military is not in a position to easily adjust or rotate its armed forces when a significant part of its combat capability is tied up in a war.” President Vladimir Putin recently proclaimed the aforementioned “war of attrition” as a goal.

Ukraine-News: Heavy casualties in the war - heat becomes a problem

Aside from poor equipment and heavy losses in the Ukraine conflict, the expected heat in the summer months could become a problem for the Ukrainian and Russian armies.

"We're sitting here without water.

It's been very hot lately.

Now the heat is added and the boys are still in shock.

Morally depressed,” the US news portal Daily Beast quoted a Russian soldier as saying.

In addition, there is the equipment that was designed for the winter months.

According to the soldier, this is unsuitable for rising temperatures.

According to the report, it was not possible to finally clarify where exactly the Russian soldier is stationed.

However, among other things, he mentioned the low morale among the Russian armed forces.

Time and again it is made public that soldiers are refusing them to continue fighting in the Ukraine war.

(tu/juf/lm/df/iwe/aa with dpa/AFP)