The Russian army is suffering colossal losses in the battle for Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine where bloody battles are taking place, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the German newspaper Bild on Sunday, dpa reports.

War in Ukraine: The city of Bakhmut is largely destroyed after months of fierce fightingPhoto: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
  • “Russian casualties are about 500 killed and wounded every day,” he said, adding that the Russian military is nothing more than “cannon fodder in the meat grinder tactics” used by Moscow.

It was not possible to independently verify this figure, notes dpa, which reminds that fierce fighting has been going on in the city of Bakhmut for several months.

Wagner’s mercenary group is particularly active in this area. Its leader Yevhen Prigozhin, who is considered close to the Kremlin, recruited people from Russian prisons. According to some data, it is among these recruits that the losses are extremely high, reminds dpa.

  • Wagner’s head sharply threatens the Kremlin shortly after declaring that he has surrounded Bakhmut

The human rights organization “Russia Behind Bars” recently calculated that out of 50,000 mercenaries recruited from prisons, only 10,000 are still at the front, dpa reports, Agerpres reports. The rest would have been killed, wounded, captured or deserted.

“Symbolic place for Russians”

According to Reznikov, Bakhmut is a “symbolic place for Russians”, which is why they are making such great efforts to capture it. However, the capture of the city will not affect the course of hostilities in Donbas, he noted.

And Kyiv gave Bakhmut a great symbolic meaning, dpa notes.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the “Bakhmut fortress”, which, according to him, will not be abandoned. Meanwhile, the tone has become more moderate, with the city’s fall now seen as a possibility, dpa notes.

Nevertheless, Ukraine wants to hold its position in Bakhmut for as long as possible, in part because the fighting costs Russia both people and time.

READ ALSO: The Ukrainian army does not retreat from the “hell” of Bakhmut

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