Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a conference call with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces that manpower losses in the Ukrainian Armed Forces last month increased significantly compared to January.
“The support of the NATO countries to the Kiev regime will not lead the Ukrainian troops to success on the battlefield. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in casualties among the personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces. “In February alone, it reached more than 11,000 soldiers, up more than 40% compared to January.”
Shoigu noted that the indifference of the Kiev regime to its people is surprising because the Ukrainian authorities “openly failed to take into account the massive human losses in favor of Western curators.”
As the head of the Ministry of Defense added, in the framework of the American strategy of “breaking up Russia by force of arms”, Western countries are increasing the supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, expanding training programs for the personnel of the Armed Forces. of Ukraine.
Shoigu also evaluated the situation near Artemovsk, where the most violent clashes are currently taking place. “This city is an important defense center for Ukrainian soldiers in Donbas. Controlling it will allow further offensive actions deep into the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” he said.
The head of the department said that in the Donetsk direction, the Russian armed forces have taken control of five settlements in recent days – Nikolaevka, Dvurechnoe, Krasnaya Gora, Gryanikovka and Paraskovievka.
In early February, Shoigu said that the personal losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in January 2023 amounted to more than 6,500 people. Two months ago, in early December last year, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidency, said that in the nine months since the start of special operations, the army has lost about 13,000 soldiers.
Following the speech of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, an assessment of the loss of staff was published from Podolyak. He stated that more than 100 thousand soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces died in the conflicts. This figure caused harsh criticism in Kiev, after which von der Leyen’s statement was removed from both the video of the EC president’s speech and the transcript.
But in January, Norwegian Defense Minister Eirik Kristoffersen reiterated that the number of dead soldiers is estimated at 100,000, civilians – 30,000.
A month ago, Israeli, Turkish and Middle Eastern media, citing data from the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, wrote that by mid-January, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had killed 157,000 people and wounded 234,000. More than 17,000 Ukrainian fighters are in captivity. It was also noted that among the dead and wounded there were citizens and mercenaries from other countries – there are about 8 thousand of them.
On March 5, the American television channel CNN reported, citing sources in the Ukrainian General Staff, that by the end of February, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had lost more than 259 thousand soldiers who had died from wounds and diseases. The number of injured is estimated at around 247,000. The other 84,000 fighters are considered deserters, 28,000 prisoners.
At various times, CNN and other Western media, citing military historians, analysts, and political scientists, wrote that the Ukrainian General Staff could underestimate the dead, wounded, and deserters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces by one and a half times. Thus, the American TV channel argues that the total loss of manpower of the Ukrainian army could approach 1 million people.
Retired American Colonel McGregor said that Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny said in his meeting with US Chief of Staff Mark Milli that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had suffered irreparable losses. 257 thousand people were killed, injured and missing.
At the end of last week, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ air reconnaissance unit, Madyar, said that in Artemovsk, surrounded by Russian troops, a squadron of Ukrainian soldiers “lived one night”.