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The Ukrainian army suffered various setbacks. Photo/Reuters
MOSCOW – Ukraine’s military has lost more than 90,000 troops since a counteroffensive against Russian troops began in June.
“Since June 4 alone, Ukrainian units have lost more than 90,000 people,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi. He revealed that this was related to death and disability.
“Ukraine also lost 557 tanks and nearly 1,900 armored vehicles in the same period,” added Putin, as reported by RT.
The counteroffensive began on 4 June with a series of Ukrainian advances along the front line between Kherson and Donetsk. However, the operation quickly ran into problems, as Ukrainian units advanced rapidly through minefields to encounter several layers of Russian trenches, tank traps and gun emplacements.
Without air support to cover repeated Ukrainian attacks, Kiev forces were exposed to Russian artillery, helicopter and drone attacks.
After adjusting their tactics several times, Ukrainian units succeeded in capturing several villages near Zaporozhye in August, although losses remained high. Western-supplied tanks were destroyed from afar by Russian drones and missiles, and Ukraine lost 17,000 troops in September alone, according to figures from the Russian Defense Ministry.
Western officials openly acknowledged that the counteroffensive did not go as they had hoped, and media reports indicated that the operation was seen as a failure in the US and Europe. Although heavy autumn rains will soon make progress on the battlefield extremely difficult, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has vowed to keep up the offensive well into winter.
Ukraine’s military does not publish its casualty figures, although some estimates have been leaked. Last December, the European Commission published and quickly deleted a video and related transcript in which Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine’s military had suffered 100,000 casualties in the first nine months of the conflict.
“We understand where and what we need to do,” Putin said on Thursday (5/10/2023). “We are calmly moving towards achieving our goals, and I am confident we will achieve them.”
Putin emphasized that Russia’s goal in Ukraine is not to expand the territory of the Russian Federation, but to establish a “new world order” in which NATO or other military blocs can no longer impose their will on opposing civilizations.
Putin also highlighted Kiev’s repression of Russian speakers in the Donbass region as a key factor behind his decision to launch a military operation in Ukraine last year.
(ahm)