Moscow issues update on estimated Ukrainian casualties during counteroffensive
Kiev has lost over 43,000 troops since it launched its push against Russian positions in June, the Defense Ministry reported
Ukraine sustained losses of more than 43,000 troops during June and July, as it continued its attempted counteroffensive against Russian positions, the Russian Defense Ministry has estimated.
The casualty rate was mirrored by the destruction of a large number of Ukrainian weapons, according to the summary, which was released on Friday.
The casualty rate was mirrored by the destruction of a large number of Ukrainian weapons, according to the summary, which was released on Friday.
- Over 4,900 pieces of heavy weaponry were destroyed over the same period of time, 25 German-made Leopard main battle tanks, seven French-made AMX-10 RC ‘wheeled tanks’ and 21 US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, the report states.
- The Ukrainian losses include 747 artillery guns and mortars, including dozens that it got from the US, Poland, France and Germany, the ministry added.
Kiev’s foreign backers had provided dozens of armored vehicles, including tanks, for the summer counteroffensive, which was touted by the press as a major opportunity to regain territory lost to Russia.
Two months later, Western officials and media acknowledged that Ukraine had managed to achieve only minor gains while paying a heavy price for them.
- The Ukrainian leadership has blamed the underwhelming results on the failure of its Western backers to send the required military assistance fast enough.
- Some officials claim that a speedier supply of weapons would have allowed Kiev to launch the operation before Russian troops were entrenched.
- The conflict in Ukraine, the Russian government believes, is part of a larger proxy war which the US launched to protect its dwindling global power."
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Riddle this: How many casualties are there, truly, on both sides of Ukraine war?
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wants to force the administration to tell Congress what they know, if they know it.
JULY 12, 2023
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PrintSearching for clarity on Ukrainian and Russian casualty figures will most certainly send the seeker tumbling down a rabbit hole much like Alice in Wonderland.
A Google News search of Russian-Ukrainian casualties today will result in the top eight article headlines all speculating on why Russian fatalities and injuries are so high.
- Rep. Tom Massie (R-Ky.) has indicated he has had enough of the madness and has issued an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that forces the secretary of defense to submit a report to Congress on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, “that includes information on casualties, wounded, and materials or equipment losses for both sides of the conflict.”
A Google News search of Russian-Ukrainian casualties today will result in the top eight article headlines all speculating on why Russian fatalities and injuries are so high.
- While there is an acknowledgment that “military casualties on both sides of the war are difficult to establish and verify; the warring sides often estimate rival losses, and are understood to downplay their own,” nearly every top story includes some effort by independent organizations and/or government source to size up the numbers — on the Russian side.
This strange imbalance in information includes recent tracking from Mediazone, working with BBC, that hit all the headlines this week with an estimate of more than 27,000 Russian deaths based on publicly available information. Another, Meduza, also working with Mediazone and with publicly sourced info, pegs it at closer to 50,000 fatalities.
- Neither report focuses at all on Ukrainian casualties.
But these estimates are still lower than what’s been out there, including by U.S. officials over the last six months.
- According to the May Discord Leaks, in February, U.S. officials believed that between 15,500 and 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, with an additional 106,500 to 110,500 wounded.
- The same assessment said that between 35,000 and 42,500 Russian soldiers had already been killed and 150,500 to 177,000 had been wounded.
- At the same time the U.K. claimed upwards of 60,000 Russians had been killed.
These figures of course mix injuries with deaths.
Critics are very well aware that no one truly has accurate figures, though the Mediazone and Meduza reports go through great lengths to examine probate records and other open source data in Russia to extrapolate deaths from the Russian “special operation.” They just don’t put the same energy in the other side.
On the other hand those who think the popular estimates have been suspect point out the math, that 60-65 percent of casualties in the two world wars were due to artillery, and Russia has been firing (reportedly) 10 times as much artillery on the battlefield daily. To their thinking, it would be impossible for Russians to be dying at a 7 to 1 ratio (seven Russians to every Ukrainian), as some have suggested.
On the other hand those who think the popular estimates have been suspect point out the math, that 60-65 percent of casualties in the two world wars were due to artillery, and Russia has been firing (reportedly) 10 times as much artillery on the battlefield daily. To their thinking, it would be impossible for Russians to be dying at a 7 to 1 ratio (seven Russians to every Ukrainian), as some have suggested.
- Meanwhile, the Ukraine defense ministry posts a daily report on its website which now lists a cumulative total of 234,480 enemy personnel “liquidated,” as of July 10.
- Russian government officials have only acknowledged 6,000 casualties since the war began.
It’s enough to make one’s head spin. . ."
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