Ukrainian military estimates of Russia’s combat losses through March 8 suggest that about one-third of Moscow’s pre-staged forces have been destroyed or rendered incapable.
U.S. intelligence says all of Russia’s pre-invasion forces are now deployed in Ukraine but are being frustrated by stiff resistance from Kyiv’s battle-hardened forces who’ve been defending their country since Kremlin-leader Vladimir Putin ordered the occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
More than 45,000 of the Russian personnel that were part of the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 have been either killed, wounded or taken prisoner, separate analyses by Kyiv-based Center for Defense Strategies and Dragon Capital say.
Over 12,000 Russian troops have been killed, according to an updated daily estimate provided by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on March 8.
They include high-ranking officers like first-star General Vitaly Gerasimov near Kharkiv and Andrei Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military district.
Gerasimov’s “liquidation,” was announced by Ukraine, while Sukhovetsky’s death was reported by Pravda.ru citing his comrade-in-arms Sergei Chipilev via a social media post.
Since the Kremlin’s occupying forces re-invaded Ukraine last month, Russia seven days ago said it had only lost 498 troops.
In just one battle, the Ukrainian military said, Russia lost about 400 servicemen among 14 special purpose brigades from Khabarovsk in the Far East.
U.S. intelligence estimates of Russian losses are lower — up to 4,000 troops — but not solid.
Speaking to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee on March 8, Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, who heads the Defense Intelligence Agency, said the assessment “was low confidence” because it was partly based on “open sources.”
Ukraine, likewise, isn’t disclosing its combat losses.
In addition, about 20 percent of the 1,700 estimated tanks that Russia had prepared for the invasion have been destroyed.
About a quarter of 4,300 armored combat vehicles have also been wiped out, 13 percent of 375 aircraft units and 81 out of 240 helicopters were shot down.
Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence has said on Facebook that Russia’s offer to negotiate only on the second day of the renewed invasion of the country is testament to the unexpected number of losses that Russia is sustaining.
