The Ukrainian military says Moscow and Kiev have traded positions in the Bakhmut dispute
The US government said on Monday that it estimates Russian forces have suffered 100,000 casualties over the past five months fighting against Ukraine in the Bakhmut region.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the number, based on US intelligence estimates, It has more than 20,000 dead, half of them from the Wagner mercenary group of convicts released from prison to join the fight.
“Russia’s attempt to launch an offensive in the Donbass via Bakhmut has largely failed,” Kirby said. “Russia has failed to capture any real strategic and important territory.”
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He said the Russians had made some incremental gains in Bakhmut but that it had come at a “terrible, terrible cost” and that Ukraine’s defenses in the area had remained strong.
“Russia has depleted its military stocks and armed forces, and since December we estimate that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including more than 20,000 operational deaths, about half of them Wagner soldiers,” he said.
“These numbers are really staggering,” Kirby added, noting that the total number is three times the number of American casualties in the Guadalcanal Campaign of World War II.
According to Kirby, another US arms deal to Ukraine will be announced soon.
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