Heavy losses for Russia: Putin sends 137,000 new soldiers into the war

Created: 2022-08-27 04:53

By: Karolin Schäfer, Vincent Büssow, Jan-Frederik Wendt, Christian Stör

Russia has suffered heavy losses in the Ukraine war.

The shortage of personnel at the fronts is also increasing.

• Bridge Damaged:

  Russian troops “cannot use nor repair Antonivka Bridge

• "Clandestine mobilization":

  Russia must compensate for losses in the Ukraine war.

• Editor

   's note: Some of the information on the Ukraine conflict comes from warring factions and cannot be directly checked independently.

+++ 8.50 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, there was a rocket attack on a strategically important bridge in the Cherson region in the south of the country.

The Darjivsky Bridge was hit by Ukrainian missiles, the southern military command said.

The bridge crosses the Dnieper River and is considered an important supply route.

Ukraine reported that the bridge could no longer be used.

That would make the supply of food and resources much more difficult.

Just recently, Ukrainian troops shelled the Antonivka Bridge, which also crosses the river.

Large parts of the bridge have been repeatedly destroyed by shelling in recent weeks.

Antonivka Bridge is a pivot in the Ukraine War, specifically in the battle for the city of Kherson.

Ukrainian troops repeatedly damage them to prevent the army from Russia from transporting military equipment across the Dnieper River.

(Archive image) © Sergei Bobylev/imago

News about the Ukraine war: Putin sends 137,000 new soldiers into battle

+++ 1.30 p.m .:

Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Thursday (August 25) according to which the Russian army will be increased in terms of personnel.

137,000 new soldiers are to go to the Ukraine war, most of them recruits.

According to a reporter from the news portal

, this could be a reaction by Russia to the heavy losses in Ukraine.

The increase indicates “high losses,” said Rainer Munz in a live broadcast.

This cannot be verified independently.

The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope

View photo gallery

+++ 9.45 a.m .:

The Ukrainian General Staff has updated the statistics on the losses of the Russian army – an overview.

• Soldiers: 

  46,250

• Aircraft:

   234

• Helicopters:

   202

• Tanks:

   1936

• Armored Fighting Vehicles:

   4251

• Artillery systems:

   1040

• Air defense systems: 

  148

• Multiple rocket launcher systems:

   272

• Cars and other vehicles:

   3162

• Ships:

   15

• Unmanned combat drones:

   834

• As of Friday 26 August 2022

• The information on Russia's losses in the Ukraine war comes from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

  They cannot be independently verified.

  The Kremlin itself gives very little information about its own losses.

Update from Friday, August 26, 2022, 6:30 a.m

.: According to the news portal

, citing a Facebook post by the Task Force "South", the Ukrainian troops in the Cherson region have struck an important blow against the Russian army.

Accordingly, the Ukrainian troops destroyed a communications and logistics hub in the region, as well as two armored vehicles.

20 Russian soldiers are said to have died.

Heavy losses in the Ukraine war: Russia's combat capability "slows down"

+++ 19.50:

According to experts, Russia's combat capability in the Cherson region in the south of the country is significantly impaired by Ukrainian attacks on the bridges and border crossings there.

For example, the Antonivka Bridge over the Dnieper River was damaged again in a recent attack (see update from 4 p.m.).

As a result, the Russian occupiers would have to use other routes to transport equipment, food and fuel.

"This not only slows down their operations, it also reduces the combat effectiveness of the troops," Oleg Zhdanov, Ukraine's military expert, told the

.

In addition, the amount of goods is "much larger than what you can transport across the river to the other bank."

Ukraine War: Defenders damage vital bridge

+++ 4:00 p.m .:

Ukrainian troops again damaged the Antonivka Bridge near the city of Cherson.

This was announced by Operations Command South on Thursday (August 25).

The bridge over the Dnieper River serves as an important gateway for Russia to the embattled port city.

The operations command spokeswoman told Ukrainian broadcaster

that Russian troops "cannot use or repair" the bridge.

The Russian military administration in the region confirmed to state news agency

that the bridge was hit.

+++ 1:05 p.m .:

Russia is said to have lost an area larger than Denmark in the Ukraine war.

This is what the

writes in its assessment of the Russian offensive campaign on Wednesday (August 24).

Accordingly, the troops from Russia have had to give up about 45,000 square kilometers of territory since March 21.

The comparison date corresponds to the estimated point in time at which Russia advanced furthest into Ukraine.

+++ 10.25 a.m .:

The Ukrainian general staff updated the numbers on Russian losses on Thursday.

Accordingly has

Russia has lost around 45,850 soldiers, 234 aircraft and 1,929 tanks in the Ukraine war since February 24.

Compared to the previous day (Wednesday, August 24), 150 casualties were added.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reports that Russia suffered the greatest losses on the Donetsk front.

The data in a compact overview:

Update from Thursday, August 25, 6:20 a.m.:

The war in Ukraine has been going on for half a year now.

The fighting also continued on the Ukrainian national holiday.

According to a report by the

portal , the Russian military suffered heavy losses again.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Facebook that they had destroyed a Ka-52 “Alligator” helicopter and several Russian army reconnaissance drones.

News about the Ukraine war: Severe losses are troubling Russia

First report from Tuesday, August 23:

Moscow - The severe losses in the Ukraine war make Russia difficult to create.

The long duration of the war also seems to have weakened the morale of the auxiliary troops from the separatist areas loyal to Moscow.

At least that is what the reports of the British secret service show.

As the Ministry of Defense announced in London on Monday (August 22), some commanders are now likely to promise their soldiers hefty financial incentives.

Individual associations are considered unreliable and would therefore not be entrusted with attacks.

News on the Ukraine war: "Clandestine mobilization" to compensate for losses

According to the British secret service, the fact that Russia continues to classify the war as a "military special operation" contributes to the personnel problems.

Without general mobilization, the state has no legal authority to force people into military service.

Thus, Russia is still dependent on auxiliary troops.

So far, Vladimir Putin has steadfastly refused to order the general mobilization, which is politically quite risky, in the war that has now lasted around six months.

So what else can the Russian authorities do?

Apparently, the Kremlin has been trying to set in motion a kind of "secret mobilization," as the

writes, for some time.

To compensate for the lack of personnel, the Kremlin is therefore relying on a combination of impoverished ethnic minorities, Ukrainians from the separatist areas, mercenaries and militarized units of the National Guard to wage the war.

It was also recently reported that prisoners in St. Petersburg had been offered freedom and money if they agreed to fight in Ukraine.

News on the Ukraine war: Russia is silent on losses

At the end of March, Russia put the number of soldiers killed in the Ukraine war at 1,351.

Since then, the Kremlin has remained silent about its own losses.

Ukraine provides a daily update, with the latest estimate putting the total at around 45,000.

(cs)