U.S. officials told Politico on condition of anonymity that Washington estimates up to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers may have died in the war launched by Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian military at the event on the occasion of the anniversary of the beginning of the invasionPhoto: Pool / Presidency of Ukraine / Zuma Press / Profimedia

In addition to the huge number of dead, another problem of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is that many of the dead soldiers were veterans of the battles against pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, being practically the most experienced fighters of Kyiv.

A significant part of these losses was recorded during the fighting around the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk region, where both sides suffered huge losses.

Russia has been trying to seize this city since the beginning of August last year, initially the mercenaries of “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin led the offensive here.

“The Russians clearly want to advance to the borders of Donetsk Oblast in the west, and to do that they need to capture Bakhmut and the road network that runs past it,” said Dara Massikot, a RAND researcher and military analyst. Institute, Politico reported.

What awaits Ukraine next?

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi has repeatedly assured that Kyiv troops will not be withdrawn from Bakhmut, despite the difficult situation there.

“We understand that after Bakhmut he could go further. He could go to Kramatorsk, he could go to Slovyansk, it would be an open road for the Russians after Bakhmut to other cities of Ukraine, in the direction of Donetsk,” he said in an interview with CNN in early March.

Politico also notes that US officials, however, are more concerned with Ukraine’s preparations for its long-awaited spring offensive to retake its territories.

Sources in Washington say that Kiev has not yet decided on a strategy, but essentially it will have two options: try to attack Kherson in the direction of Crimea, or attack from the east, then turn south to cut off the Russian army’s land corridor to peninsula.

American officials, however, say the first option is unrealistic because Russia has greatly strengthened its defenses on the east bank of the Dnieper and Ukraine does not have enough specialized troops for an amphibious operation.

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