The number of Russian soldiers, mercenaries, and auxiliaries killed in action in Ukraine may actually be much more than even the boldest known estimates, according to Ukrainian intelligence information and insider sources from the Russian leadership.
Russian Manpower Losses May Be More Mind-Blowing
The latest speculations put the number of Russian troops who have perished so far at almost 50,000.
Ukrainians, however, have proven to be far more resolved to defend their freedom than anybody expected. They defeated the invaders in the north, while stopping those in the east and south.
That left Putin’s commanders to focus solely on the conquest of the rest of the Donbass region, but they haven’t been able to accomplish that, even in spite of throwing all of their resources there for the past 2.5 months.
#Ukraine: Ukrainian Forces destroyed another Russian (likely T-72 series) tank during recent fighting, seemingly at quite close range.pic.twitter.com/JY85ZgM04G
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
#Ukraine: Ukrainian counter-battery fire hit a Russian artillery position (Likely 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm SPG), destroying at least 2 SPG. pic.twitter.com/ct8wZOOvpC
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 40th Artillery Brigade and 92nd Mechanized Brigade took out a concealed Russian T-72B series tank with drone-corrected indirect fire in the East. pic.twitter.com/8p51JupJvG
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
#Ukraine: We received HD footage of the Vasily Bekh rescue tug being struck by 2 Ukrainian Harpoon ASM, as observed by the Bayraktar TB2 drone.
It was not being used in the usual role and was transporting men & equipment. Both RU & UA sources claim heavy damage and many killed. https://t.co/O7mSuWwZZW pic.twitter.com/dPSY0AZXm8
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
Russia’s Soldiers Killed in Action Could Be Over 70,000
The stupefying amount of destroyed Russian military hardware aside, Russia’s manpower losses may be tremendously greater: up to 70,000 killed, not counting those wounded, captured, or missing.
According to General SVR, a channel on Telegram connected with Russian opposition political scientist Valery Solovey, and claiming to have insider information from the Kremlin, the total number of killed Russian troops in Ukraine stands at 48,837.
Its report claims the number in question includes 37,592 soldiers from the Russian military, together with 9,457 Russian mercenary fighters from dreadful private armies run by Putin’s oligarchs.
The most famous is the Nazi-like Wagner Group, plus another 1,788 killed from Rosgvardia (“Russian Guard”), the Russian National Guard, which is often used as riot police.
General SVR claimed the numbers in question have been reported personally to Putin. There have recently been reports by Ukrainian officials on YouTube interviews saying intelligence services intercepted Russian communications, putting the dead at more than 40,000.
The above-cited figures do not seem to account for the heavy casualties of the Russian proxy conscripts from the occupied parts of the Donbass region, estimated by Ukrainian commentators at no fewer than 20,000.
Taken together, the mind-blowing losses of the Russian aggressors in Ukraine may come at more than 70,000, not counting those wounded.
Combined with the losses of huge amounts of military equipment, the new numbers could explain why in the past 2.5 months, the Russians have managed to advance only about 10-12 miles, at best, at most spots of the Donbass front.
In further testimony of the devastating losses of the Russian invaders, Ukrainian media said on Saturday that Putin sacked 60-year-old Col. Gen. Andrey Serdyukov as commander of Russia’s once much-feared airborne troops (VDV).
The reason for the sacking is the VDV commando units were obliterated almost at a rate of 70% very early on in the war when Ukrainian resistance proved to be much more ferocious than Russians expected.
#Ukraine: Mortar fire from the Ukrainian 36th and 126th Brigades destroyed another Russian Tank; precise date and location unknown. pic.twitter.com/dqhAEF6i1T
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
#Ukraine: Everything which can be used, will be used: A burnt and bent Russian NSVT 12.7×108 HMG undergoing the process of resurrection in a Ukrainian workshop. The machine gun was put into diesel to ease disassembling, then was straightened and cleaned of rust via electrolysis. pic.twitter.com/EDhb230EMt
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) June 19, 2022
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of June 19, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/Fkn6ZFDrwg
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) June 19, 2022