More than 75,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded during the war in Ukraine, Biden administration officials told US lawmakers during a confidential briefing on Wednesday.
“We were told that over 75,000 Russians were killed or wounded, which is huge, you have an incredible amount of investment in your ground forces, over 80% of your ground forces are bogged down and tired,” he said. Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a Democrat who serves on the House Armed Services Committee and who recently visited Ukraine, told CNN . “But they are still the Russian military.”
It is difficult to independently assess casualty numbers in war. Russian and Ukrainian officials, seeking to gain the upper hand in propaganda efforts, have sometimes exaggerated military advances and minimized setbacks. The Kremlin does not regularly provide updates on victims.
Last week, Richard Moore, head of MI6 – the British secret service – told the Aspen Security Forum that he believes the Russians will start to lose steam in the coming weeks because they are running out of manpower.
And the next few weeks of the war will be crucial, US and Western officials said, as the Ukrainians will try to mount a major counteroffensive in the south before winter. Ukraine is looking for additional reinforcements, lawmakers said in Wednesday’s briefing.
Ukraine will aim to retake the southern city of Kherson, which has been occupied by Russia since March, US and Western officials believe.
“The main conversation type at the briefing was, you know, what else can and should we do for Ukrainians, literally in the next three to six weeks, very urgently. The Ukrainians want to go south and do operations in the south. And we want them to be as successful as possible,” said Slotkin.
“I think what we heard very strongly from President Zelensky and reinforced today is that the Ukrainians really want to hit Russia a few times before winter comes, put them in the best possible position, especially in the south.”
During the briefing, Slotkin said there was bipartisan support for sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, known as ATACMS, which can range up to 290 kilometers away.
The Ukrainians have been urging the US to provide these systems for months now, because the HIMARS they have can only travel distances of about 80 kilometers.
But national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week at the Aspen Security Forum that the US would not provide ATACMS because they could be used to attack Russian territory, which would further escalate the war.
Source: CNN Brasil
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