Kremlin ready to sacrifice

Russia is losing more and more soldiers in the war

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin talks to a soldier during a military training session in the Russian region of Ryazan.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

According to NATO estimates, Russian losses in the war of aggression against Ukraine have recently increased considerably. As Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the alliance, announced in Brussels on Thursday, Western intelligence services assume that the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded has now exceeded the 350,000 mark.

The country is paying a very high price for marginal territorial gains, Stoltenberg stated, adding that Ukrainian attacks had also sunk or disabled a considerable part of the Russian Black Sea fleet. In the air war, Ukraine is shooting down important high-value Russian surveillance aircraft, among other things.

Stoltenberg did not say how many of the Russian victims NATO estimates to be dead. At the end of November last year, there was talk in alliance circles of significantly more than 100,000 - at that time with estimated total losses of more than 300,000 Russian soldiers. These figures cannot be independently verified. The Russian side does not provide any precise information on the losses in its own ranks.

A Russian mobilized for the war says goodbye to his wife.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Strengthening Kiev's back
Stoltenberg also appealed to the 32 NATO countries to provide more military support for Ukraine. "The situation remains very difficult. Ukraine urgently needs ammunition," he warned. In particular, the NATO Secretary General addressed the Republicans of US presidential candidate-elect Donald Trump, who are currently blocking planned aid from Joe Biden's government. Every day of delay has an impact on the situation on the battlefield, he said on the sidelines of a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at NATO headquarters.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than two years with Western help. Recently, however, the situation on the front has been very tense. According to the Ukrainian armed forces, they urgently need further supplies of weapons and ammunition in order to hold their own against the attackers from Russia.