Western officials quoted by Sky News say Russia may be losing up to a thousand soldiers a day in fierce fighting for Avdiivka, Sky News reported. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the advances of Russian forces in the vicinity of this city have probably brought them closer to the Ukrainian Coke Chemical Plant, a key tactical location.
“Russia may be losing up to a thousand soldiers a day in fierce fighting for Avdiivka in the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian losses are lower,” Sky News reported on Thursday, citing Western officials.
According to these sources, Ukrainian forces are acting “slower, more carefully.” “There are relatively few fatalities on the Ukrainian side. Much less than on the Russian side,” said the officials quoted by the station. They emphasized that “neither side is gaining an advantage, and movement on the front line is quite limited.”
Russian troops are trying to encircle Avdiivka
According to the British Ministry of Defense, the recent advances of Russian forces in the vicinity of Avdiivka have probably brought them closer to the Ukrainian Avdiivka Coke Chemical Plant, a vast industrial complex producing coke and various chemicals, located in a key tactical location in the north of the city.
“The plant dominates the main road to Avdiivka and if Russian forces gained control of it, supplying the city would become increasingly difficult for Ukraine,” said the British ministry.
Russian soldiers. Illustrative photo Ministry of Defense of Russia/Telegram
Russian troops are trying to encircle Avdiivka, believing that it may become a bridgehead of the Ukrainian offensive against Donetsk, which is several kilometers away. In recent weeks, the Ukrainian authorities and media have emphasized that the current Russian attack on the city is the largest not only since the beginning of the current invasion, but since 2014, when fighting broke out in Donbass.
Significant monthly losses for the Russian side
According to Ukrainian military observer Oleksandr Kovalenko, Russian forces on Ukraine They currently number over 400,000 soldiers and are twice as large as when they started Russia full-scale war in Ukraine. He estimates – as “Kyiv Post” emphasizes – that even the serious losses currently incurred will probably not change this state of affairs.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the monthly losses of the Russian side in this war amounted to an average of 15-20 thousand soldiers this year. Meanwhile, according to Kovalenko, Moscow is able to recruit 20-25 thousand men a month to military training centers, among other things by recruiting them from among prisoners.
Main photo source: Ministry of Defense of Russia/Telegram