Ukraine claims thousands of Russian casualties and a slowing Kremlin advance

详细摘要

Ukraine is countering Russia’s narrative of battlefield success by blunting the Kremlin’s attacks.

DNIPRO, Ukraine — Heavy Russian losses are one of the reasons for Moscow’s slowing advance in Ukraine this year, the commander of the country’s Air Assault Forces said.

“Even though the Russian offensive continues, the enemy is not demonstrating rapid operational successes that would allow it to advance quickly. They are slowing down,” Maj. Gen. Oleh Apostol told a group of journalists in a secure location on Tuesday.

"If they capture a single tree line in a month, that hardly constitutes an operational success upon which further gains can be built," Apostol said.

Russian casualties are rising, according to the commander and to NATO officials.

“In the past few months, Russia has been losing more than 40,000 troops — killed or seriously wounded — every month. The United States in 14 years, in Vietnam, lost 56,000. Here in one month, Russia, dead or seriously wounded, 40,000. And in October, early reporting indicates this number may have climbed to over 50,000,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said this week.

The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies this summer estimated that Russian forces had suffered about 1.4 million casualties, including 400,000 to 450,000 fatalities, from the start of the full-scale invasion through June 2026. It estimated Ukrainian casualties at 525,000 to 625,000, including 125,000 to 150,000 fatalities, over the same period.

Despite rising casualties, the Russian military continues to press forward but is making few lasting gains, Apostol said. He estimated that Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 800 square kilometers from Russian forces this year as the result of two local counteroffensive operations.

Ukraine’s offensives have both a military and a political meaning as they show Kyiv is successfully resisting Russian pressure, Apostol said.

In his view, successes on the battlefield provide additional arguments for continuing military aid from Kyiv's allies, while a lack of positive momentum could increase external…

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