The West considers Russia's heavy casualties in the Ukraine battlefield

The number of Russian soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine is believed to have increased sharply since early February as Moscow prepares for a major offensive in the spring.

According to BBC statistics, in the past 14 days, the number of casualties of Russian forces has increased by 5 times compared to the usual weekly figures. This could be a sign of a large-scale offensive that Russia has begun to deploy in Donbass, eastern Ukraine.

"The number of confirmed casualties started to increase from mid-December (last year). In 2022, Russian sources usually report about 250-300 soldiers killed. These numbers have doubled in In just two weeks of February, the BBC, in conjunction with Mediazona and a group of volunteers, confirmed 1,679 soldiers killed, five times higher than the usual weekly figure. This is also the information that we have tried to find and check with the help of open sources, so the casualty figure is the largest increase in Russian personnel losses in the entire military campaign. the reality is certainly bigger," the BBC reported.

British intelligence believes that the Russian military and the private Wagner military organization, which fought alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, may have lost up to 60,000 people after nearly a year of conflict.

"The Russian Defense Ministry and the Wagner organization may have suffered 175,000-200,000 casualties since the beginning of the military operation in Ukraine. Of these, about 40,000-60,000 people are likely killed," the agency said. The British Defense Ministry's intelligence agency said in an update on the military situation in Ukraine on February 17.

British intelligence estimates that Russian military casualties in Ukraine have increased significantly since September 2022, after Moscow issued a partial mobilization order.

Russia has not yet responded to the information related to the above casualty figures.

Meanwhile, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby estimated the casualties of the private Russian military organization Wagner at more than 30,000 people, including the number of militants killed about 9,000 people, since Russia came to military operation in Ukraine.

About half of Wagner's 9,000 fighters have been killed since mid-December, and about 90% of those killed in December were recruited from Russian prisons, US officials confirmed.

The West says Wagner recruited prisoners in Russia to join the military operation in Ukraine. "That shows no sign of abating," Kirby said, despite Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin last week announcing the force would no longer be recruiting prisoners from prisons.

In December last year, Reuters reported that the US intelligence community estimated Wagner had 40,000 fighters deployed in Ukraine, making up the majority of the organization's forces.

Wagner played an increasingly prominent role in Russia's war in Ukraine. The force took part in the months-long assault on the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Wagner members have accompanied the Russian main force in many missions and played a large role in the campaigns to take control of cities in eastern Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Wagner's forces have suffered heavy casualties in the fierce battles for Bakhmut. The war in the East is becoming more fierce in the context of observers saying that Russia needs a victory to strengthen the morale of its forces in the context that they have faced many setbacks on the battlefield during this time. passed, as well as marking the one year anniversary of the outbreak of conflict.

The West considers Russia's heavy casualties in the Ukraine battlefield

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