Russia might be advancing in Ukraine but they are losing too many troops

Russia may be making headway in Ukraine, but the country is paying a very high price. They are losing huge amount of troops each and every day.

Russia has suffered major losses in one week amid new offensive pushes all across the front line in Ukraine according to casualty estimations from the Ukrainian General Staff. 

On May 12, Newsweek’s Ellie Cook reported Moscow lost 8,030 troops and 79 tanks in the fighting that had occurred over the previous seven days of fighting on the frontlines. 

The figures were a total of the estimations made by the Ukrainian General Staff, which has been publishing Russian soldier and material losses since the beginning of the war. 

Newsweek noted that it could not verify the claims of the Ukrainian General Staff but the group's casualty count when it comes to killed and wounded soldiers has been factual. 

On April 27th, the U.K. Minister of State and Minister of the Armed Forces Leo Docherty noted Russian losses in Ukraine had topped 450,000 according to the UK Defence Journal. 

“We estimate that approximately 450,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded, and tens of thousands more have deserted,” Docherty said about the losses.  

Docherty went on to add that the figure of personnel serving in Russian private military companies was not known, but his figure was in line with the Ukrainian General Staff. 

The Ukrainian General Staff reported on April 27th that total Russian troop losses since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24th, 2022 had reached 465,054. 

As of May 14th Russia’s total personnel losses since the beginning of the invasion were estimated to be 485,430 and closing in on 500,000, which will be a very grim milestone. 

More concerning than the over 8,000 soldiers lost over the course of a week may be the news that Russia allegedly lost more than 1,700 personnel in a single day of fighting. 

May 13th saw the Ukrainian General Staff report that Moscow lost 1,740 troops over the course of a day. However, this information has yet to be verified by a third-party source. 

One reason that may explain the growing losses Russia is suffering could be the string of renewed offensives across important sections of the conflict’s frontline with Ukraine. 

Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast is still seeing heavy fighting according to Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group of Forces in the area. 

“The situation in Chasiv Yar has not changed. Active fighting continues day and night. The enemy has not had any territorial success in recent days,” Voloshyn said on a 24/7 national newscast according to a translation from Ukrainska Pravda. 

“They continue to destroy Chasiv Yar with artillery and guided aerial bombs, dropping them on the city and nearby settlements,” Voloshyn added, noting Russia was probing the area for weak points. 

Russia also recently launched a new offensive into Kharkiv Oblast according to reports. The UK Ministry of Defence noted that Russia’s Northern Group of Forces has taken control of several villages as of May 14th.