The estimates of the New York Times: the Russians have lost 300,000 men in killed and wounded
The number of killed and wounded between the Ukrainian and Russian forces since the beginning approaches 500,000, 18 months ago, of the war in Ukraine with the invasion carried out by Russia. This was stated by US sources quoted by the New York Times, specifying that the budgets remain difficult because Kiev does not provide official data and losses in Moscow are underestimated.
According to sources, Russian losses are approaching 300,000, including about 120,000 killed and 170-180,000 wounded., while on the Ukrainian side (according to various US officials and a former Ukrainian official) there are almost 70,000 dead and 100-120,000 injured. Among the Ukrainian ranks the losses could be even lower, according to other US officials.
Ukraine has about 500,000 active, reserve and paramilitary troops, while Russia has almost triple that, with 1,330,000 active, reserve and paramilitary troops, mostly of the Wagner group. In just a year and a half, the fallen for Ukraine are more than those recorded among American troops in Vietnam (about 58,000) and almost as many as those among the Afghan security forces from 2001 to 2021 (about 69,000).
The initial weeks of the counteroffensive were especially difficult for Ukraine. In the first two, according to US and European sources, 20% of the military supplies sent to Ukraine were damaged or destroyed. In recent weeks, Kiev has changed tactics, returning to the ‘old style’ of wearing down Russian forces with the use of artillery and long-range missiles. The feared risk in the United States is that ammunition stocks could run out.
The number of dead and wounded, highlights the NYT, reflects the amount of lethal ammunition used by both sides, but it also indicates the absence of rapid medical assistance at the front and it is increasingly difficult – due to the intensity of the fire – to transfer injured soldiers, often put on any means available or forced to leave the field on foot of battle. There are also cases, writes the newspaper, of dead and wounded being left there.
Estimates of the fallen in the ranks of Russian and Ukrainian forces are based on satellite images, wiretaps, news gleaned from social media and press reports, as well as data provided by Moscow and Kiev, but the data varies, even in the US itself.
Source-www.adnkronos.com