“The number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers in Ukraine is approaching 200,000.” The New York Times writes it, commenting that the figure represents “a clear symbol of how badly President Vladimir Putin’s invasion went”. The American daily warns that “casualties are notoriously difficult to count, particularly as Moscow is believed to routinely underreport its war dead and wounded, saying that the number of casualties from fighting in and around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and the city of Soledar has been inflated”.
“With Moscow desperate for a major battlefield victory and seeing Bakhmut as the key to seizing the entire eastern Donbass area, the Russian military has sent recruits and poorly trained ex-convicts to the front lines,” the newspaper continued. directly in the path of Ukrainian shelling and machine gun fire. The result, American officials say, was hundreds of soldiers killed or wounded a day.”
“Russian analysts say the loss of life is unlikely to deter Putin’s war goals,” explains The New York Times. “He has no political opposition at home and has framed war as the type of struggle the country faced in World War II, when more than 8 million Soviet soldiers died. US officials have said they believe Putin can accept the loss of hundreds of thousands of casualties in Ukraine, although higher numbers could reduce his political support.” .
“Even casualty figures from Ukraine are difficult to ascertain,” the newspaper admits, “given Kiev’s reluctance to disclose its losses. But in Bakhmut, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were also sometimes wounded and killed every day, they said. the officers. The better trained infantry formations are kept in reserve to safeguard them, while the less trained troops, such as those in territorial defense units, are kept in the front line and bear the brunt of the bombardments.”
