Ukrainians climb on a destroyed Russian tank on a highway in Buzova, May 14, 2022. Photo / Ivor Prickett, The New York Times
Ukrainians climb on a destroyed Russian tank on a highway in Buzova, May 14, 2022. Photo / Ivor Prickett, The New York Times
Russia is likely to have lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed to its invasion of Ukraine in February, and its campaign to seize the Donbas region in the east of the country has lost momentum, Britain's Defence Ministry says in a new report.
The report, released onSunday (Monday NZT), did not specify whether the losses represented soldiers wounded, killed or captured, and its estimate could not be independently verified. But the rate of attrition, if confirmed, would represent a significant setback for any military, and adds to a growing number of challenges on the battlefield for Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.
The assessment also suggests that Russian losses have continued at a high rate since those sustained during its initial push to seize the capital, Kyiv, and other northern cities in the early weeks of the war. The Defence Ministry did not discuss the extent of Ukrainian losses.
The report said Russia's offensive in the Donbas, which made early gains and captured some territory, had "lost momentum and fallen significantly behind schedule". The assessment added: "Despite small-scale initial advances, Russia has failed to achieve substantial territorial gains over the past month whilst sustaining consistently high levels of attrition."
A man walks through the wreckage of a market destroyed by Russian bombing in the Saltivka neighbourhood of Kharkiv on May 14, 2022. Photo / Finbarr O'Reilly, The New York Times
In one vivid example, Ukrainian forces devastated a Russian battalion as it tried to cross a series of pontoon bridges over a river in northeast Ukraine last week, according to the British ministry.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy taunted Russia in an overnight address, saying Moscow's desire to show any sign of victory was "especially insane", although he conceded that the situation in the Donbas remained "very difficult".
The heaviest recent fighting in Ukraine has taken place in a relatively narrow corridor in the east and south. Russian forces have made limited gains in Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-speaking eastern regions where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting for eight years.
Ukrainian soldiers take a break near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 15, 2022. Photo / Finbarr O'Reilly, The New York Times
Russian forces are now seeking to capture the city of Sievierodonetsk and cut off a key highway in the region, Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said on Sunday in a post on the social media app Telegram. He said Russia had launched 11 artillery attacks on Sievierodonetsk in the past 24 hours and a similar number in two other communities, Hirske and Popasna, as it attempted to cut off the region and encircle the Ukrainian forces dug in there.
In another discouraging sign for Russia, Ukrainian forces have improved security in the second-largest city, Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, after pushing Russian troops away from there in recent days. About 2000 people are returning to the city each day, according to Oleh Synehubov, head of the regional military administration.
Children sleep at a train station in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 15, 2022, before travelling back home to Kharkiv. Photo / Diego Ibarra Sanchez, The New York Times
