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Vladimir Putin aims for victory in Ukraine.
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But it does bring with it enormous losses and casualties.
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A Ukrainian officer said Russia lost 5,000 troops in fighting over one district.
Russia’s war of attrition in Ukraine has taken a huge toll in dead and wounded troops. A Ukrainian official claimed that Russia suffered 5,000 casualties in fighting in one neighborhood.
Ukrainian defense official Lieutenant General Ivan Havrylyuk, in a essay published in Ukrainian outlet NV On July 9, the possibility of a new Ukrainian counteroffensive to push back Russian forces occupying territory in southern and eastern Ukraine was discussed.
In the article, Havrylyuk claimed that Russia would likely struggle to maintain the initiative in the conflict with its superiority in manpower and equipment.
Havrylyuk pointed to the huge Russian losses suffered by the army. According to him, 5,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in fighting for control of a single district in the strategically important city of Khasiv Yar in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine.
The hilltop town has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks, with Russian forces managing to took over power in a district last week.
Havrylyuk did not name the neighborhood, but the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S. think tank, said he was likely referring to the Kanal Microraion neighborhood.
Business Insider was unable to independently verify the casualty figures provided by Havrylyuk, but other reports and Statements from officials indicate that Russia also suffers many casualties during its campaign in the Kharikiv region of northern Ukraine.
Russia launches frontal ‘meat strike’ attacks on Ukrainian positions using waves of troops carrying British intelligence.claiming that the Russian casualties in May reached its highest point in the war, with army losses at a rate of about 1,200 men per day.
Havrylyuk said Putin saw people as expendable in his mission to conquer Ukraine, but that economic problems and difficulties in supplying his troops with ammunition and equipment could soon weaken the campaign.
According to the ISW, the high number of casualties was part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy to achieve victory in Ukraine through a war of attrition.
“The recent increase in reports that entire Russian units are no longer combat effective due to losses underscores the tactics Russian forces are relying on to realize Putin’s theory of a slow, gradual, and painstaking victory in Ukraine,” the report said.
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