Russia has suffered heavy losses over the past year, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The Americans speak of 100,000 dead and wounded, and even if this figure is corrected, the losses are alarming, says Europe reporter Geert Jan Hahn. BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg wonders how high the Ukrainian casualties are. “It’s medieval, it’s barbaric.”
According to the Pentagon, the Russians suffered heavy casualties with 80,000 wounded and 20,000 killed. “These are tough numbers,” says Hahn, who allows for an 80 percent margin of correction, which means the numbers are slightly downward-corrected. General Mark Milley had indicated in November 2022 that there had been 100,000 casualties on the Russian side up to then. Now add another 100,000 and you have 200,000 that cannot be used by Russia during that offensive.’
barbarian
Hammelburg says he lacks casualty figures on the Ukrainian side, despite the fact that the Americans and British will surely have them. ‘I am convinced that the Americans have a good idea of this and that the British certainly keep track of everything very well. You need these figures to get a balanced picture.’ Despite margins reducing Russian losses from 200,000 to 160,000, Hammelburg says it remains “barbaric medieval warfare”.
It is a barbaric war. it’s medieval’
Where the Russians mobilized 300,000 people last year, they would now have lost half of that if the figures are to be believed. And that puts further pressure on the Kremlin to either mobilize again or, as it turned out, focus more on recruiting volunteer professional soldiers. In any case, it is safe to say that the heavy losses suffered by Bach must have played tricks on the Russians and held back their offensive.
Bachmoth
“One wonders if the Russians went on too long with Bachmoet or if they should have taken sides on multiple fronts,” says Hahn, who notes that it is not known what Bachmoet “brought” to the Ukrainians in terms of casualties. Perhaps, says the European journalist, those losses are so great that the Ukrainian spring offensive has not materialized yet. Kiev should wait for new people.
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Between the devil and the deep sea
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian population in the Russian-occupied territory faces a fiendish dilemma. They are obliged to take out a Russian passport or face deportation. There are different reactions to this in Ukraine, Hahn says. According to him, the ombudsman recommends accepting that passport, but the other camp (Ukrainian politicians and the deputy prime minister) say that taking it is a form of cooperation. “So here you see how the Kremlin is forcing Ukrainians in the Occupied Territories to make impossible choices and trying to divide Ukraine in that too.”
“Fighting for months over a ruin. it’s surreal’
Hammelburg thinks it sounds like the old argument about being right and wrong in a war. “You are forced into a situation where you can do almost nothing. And it’s easy for the deputy prime minister to speak from Kiev, because he doesn’t have to make that choice himself.’
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Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
