A White House source said Monday that more than 20,000 Russian troops have perished and another 80,000 have been injured in five months of battle in eastern Ukraine, notably in Bakhmut.
“We estimate that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. “Russia’s attempt at an offensive in the Donbass, largely through Bakhmut, has failed… Russia has been unable to seize any really strategically significant territory,” Kirby added.
According to Kirby, who cited newly disclosed US intelligence, around half of those killed were soldiers recruited by the private military organization Wagner, which pulls a large portion of its members from Russian prison inmates.
According to US data, the toll from fighting accounts for losses since the beginning of December, with the most severe battle being for Bakhmut, where Ukrainian troops had been forced from all but a sliver of the city.
“This attempted effort, particularly in Bakhmut, has come at a terribly, terribly high cost. Russia has exhausted its military stockpiles and its armed forces,” Kirby said.
Kirby stated that he was not providing casualty figures for Ukrainians since “they are the victims here.” The attacker is Russia.”
According to him, the White House will not put “information in the public domain that makes it any harder” for the close Western partner, whose army is armed and trained by a US-led coalition of countries.
