While Russian soldiers are being decimated on the battlefields in Ukraine at a rate rarely seen since the start of the conflict, the leader of the Wagner group boasted on Sunday of the capture, by his mercenaries, of a municipality a few kilometers north of Bakhmout, a key city that Moscow has been trying to conquer for several months.
Significant human losses on the Russian side
The human losses recorded by the Russian army in recent days would never have been so high, with the exception of the first month of the conflict.
This is according to data published by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and taken over by the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom.
According to these data, no less than 824 Russian soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields in Ukraine every day during the first two weeks of February, a rate almost five times higher than that of June and July 2022.
“Correct” figures, according to the British
The losses on the Ukrainian side would also be significant, specifies the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom, without giving figures.
While the British authorities state that they are unable to verify these figures and the methodology used by the Ukrainian army, they add that “the trend illustrated by these figures is probably correct”.
PHOTO LIBKOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ukrainian tank near the front line in Bakhmout
“The increase in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors, including a lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources on the frontline,” the UK MoD explained in a series of tweets posted on Sunday. .
The leader of the Wagner group puffs out his chest
On Sunday, the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said the group had seized a settlement near the devastated town of Bakhmout in eastern Ukraine.
“Today the settlement of Krasna Hora was taken by assault detachments of the PMC Wagner,” Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Telegram, according to what the British channel BBC reported.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE WAGNER GROUP
Members of the Wagner group who allegedly took a photo of themselves at the entrance to the Krasna Hora settlement
The latter also gave his group credit for the offensive on Bakhmout, while downplaying the role of the Russian army. “Within a radius of 50 kilometers, more or less, there are only Wagner fighters,” he wrote.
This statement alludes to recent tensions between the Russian military and the Wagner group. When taking the town of Soledar in January, Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that his fighters had full control of the situation and that only his troops took part in the operation, which the Russian Defense Ministry disputed.
Donbass under Russian control in two years?
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered his troops earlier this month to take control of all of Donbass by March, a goal that could be achieved, albeit in a much longer timeframe, according to the report. Yevgeny Prigozhin.
PHOTO MARKO DJURICA, REUTERS
Ukrainian woman riding a bicycle in the city of Chassiv Yar
The latter estimates that the control of Donbass by the Russians could be achieved within two years. “In the end, I conclude that we must protect the regions that we control at the moment,” he said in an interview with a Russian blogger whose content was reported by the Reuters agency.
Vladimir Putin and Evgueni Prigojine also discussed the future of the Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow, such as those of Kherson or Zaporijjia. “If you want to go to the Dnieper [un fleuve qui traverse l’Ukraine]it could take more than three years, ”he would also have explained.
The Russian offensive continues in the east
Meanwhile, Russian forces continued to shell Ukrainian towns over the weekend, part of an escalating push to seize more land in the east of the country.
According to Ukrainian officials, however, Moscow is finding it difficult to launch the long-awaited large-scale offensive in this region.
PHOTO ANDRIY ANDRIYENKO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Residents of Komyshuvakha clear the scene of a Russian bombardment on Friday
One person was killed and another injured on Sunday morning in the shelling of Nikopol, a town in the southeast of the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to reports by the Associated Press. The shelling damaged four residential buildings, a vocational school and a water treatment facility.
In total, Russian forces carried out 12 missile strikes and 32 airstrikes in Ukraine in 24 hours, as well as more than 90 shellings from multiple rocket launchers, the Ukrainian General Staff said in its update. updated daily.
With the BBC, Reuters and the Associated Press