UK gov: Russian soldiers dying at highest rate since beginning of war

Russia’s army is currently losing soldiers at the highest rate since the first week of the war almost a year ago — with a remarkable 824 troops dying each day, UK officials say.

The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense made the stunning claim Sunday, citing Ukrainian General Staff updates, but said it could not verify Ukraine’s methodology.

“The trends the data illustrate are likely accurate,” the Ministry said.

At rate of 824 deaths per day is about four times higher than the mean in June-July 2022, the UK government said.

“Ukraine also continued to suffer a high attrition rate,” the Defense Intelligence update stated without providing specific numbers. “The uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources across the front — this is exemplified in Vuhledar and Bakhmut.”

Ukraine’s Armed Forces on Saturday said some of the fiercest battles are being fought in the city of Vuhledar, in the besieged Donetsk region.

Russia’s Wagner mercenary group said Sunday it had taken Krasna Hora, on the north edge of Bakhmut, which Ukraine insisted the previous day it continues to hold while attempting to “stabilize” the towns around it.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak on Saturday said peace talks with Russia won’t happen after the Kremlin’s latest bombings, which Ukraine said included at least 100 missiles launched Friday.

“In periodic ‘peace and talks’ rhetoric the Kremlin says it won’t leave the [Ukraine] territories & won’t be responsible for crimes,” Podolyak tweeted. “It’s another proof that talks are out of the question. Only [Ukraine] victory, otherwise the war in Europe won’t end, and [Russia] will criminally dominate the world.”