BBC managed to establish the names of 14,709 Russian soldiers who died in war in Ukraine, based on open sources. Over the past 14 days, the number of confirmed casualties has been five times the usual weekly rate. This may be the result of an attack by Russia in Donbass.

Confirmed losses began to increase significantly already in mid-December. Throughout 2022, Russian sources consistently reported 250-300 deaths every week. In January, these figures doubled.

But in general, in just two weeks in February, the BBC Russian Service, together with Mediazona (recognized in Russia as a “foreign agent”) and a group of volunteers, managed to identify 1679 dead, which is five times more than usual. the number of deaths per week. This is the largest increase in Russian military casualties since the invasion of Ukraine. And we are talking only about the data that we were able to find and verify from open sources, which means that the real number of victims is probably even higher, writes the BBC.

Possible “bloodyer” Russian attack

At the same time, the information speaks of the possibility of a new Russian attack, which could turn out to be even more bloody. “Given the current death toll, a new attack could lead to unprecedented loss of life and a complete collapse in the morale of the already demoralized Russian troops,” said Peter Dickinson of the Atlantic Council.

“This will greatly complicate the life of the Russian military, who will face a serious blow to discipline, which can significantly limit their ability to conduct offensive operations,” he adds.

In addition, the Russian Armed Forces are depleting their arsenal. It has lost about half of its tanks, according to estimates released this week by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. As a result, Russia is using stockpiles of weapons from earlier eras, including those from the Soviet era. Ammunition stockpiles in Russia are rapidly declining, as in Ukraine.

The end of the war is drawing near

However, the war does not seem to be drawing to a close. Analysts attribute this, in part, to Putin’s personal resolve – and delusions.

Finally, it is worth noting that, despite the US commitment to support Ukraine, the US government simultaneously indicates to the Ukrainian side that the assistance provided at the moment may not be able to be provided in the same volume in the future, especially after control of the House of Representatives passed to the Republicans.

“We will continue to point out to them that we cannot do all this forever,” a senior US official said, referring to the Ukrainian leadership.

^{Source: APE – BPE, BBC (Russian service), Washington Post}