NATO intelligence services calculated that for every Ukrainian soldier killed in the battles for the defense of the city of Bakhmut, Russian forces lost at least five people, a military representative of the North Atlantic Alliance told CNN on Monday, citing News.ro.
The official said the five-to-one ratio is a reliable estimate based on information.
The official spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the information.
Despite the favorable report for Kyiv, the official drew attention to the fact that Ukraine suffered significant losses in the defense of the city.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said they have inflicted heavy losses on Russia as Moscow seeks to capture Bakhmut at any cost. “Our defenders inflicted significant losses on the enemy, destroyed a large amount of equipment, forced the best assault units of the “Wagner” PMK to fight and reduced the enemy’s offensive potential,” General Oleksandr Sirskyi, commander of the Ground Forces of Ukraine, said on Sunday after his visit to Bakhmut.
The Institute for the Study of War also estimated that Russia’s attempts to capture Bakhmut significantly damaged Moscow’s ability to conduct further offensive actions. “The Russian military is likely to struggle to support a further offensive operation for several months, giving Ukraine a chance to seize the initiative,” ISW said in its daily analysis of the war on Monday.
Ukraine said on Monday that its troops were still in a fierce battle for Bakhmut, while Washington said that even if the eastern city fell to a Russian offensive, it would not necessarily give Moscow a boost in the war.
Meanwhile, in the latest sign of an apparent rivalry between the regular Russian army and Wagner’s private army leading the advance on Bakhmut, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian mercenaries, demanded more ammunition and said his representative had been denied access to Bakhmut. operational headquarters of the army. He warned that the withdrawal of his soldiers could prove fatal for Russian forces, with little chance of success at Bakhmut, even though the city was, in his own words, “virtually surrounded” last week.
___
- Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro
Source: Hot News
James Springer is a renowned author and opinion writer, known for his bold and thought-provoking articles on a wide range of topics. He currently works as a writer at 247 news reel, where he uses his unique voice and sharp wit to offer fresh perspectives on current events. His articles are widely read and shared and has earned him a reputation as a talented and insightful writer.