Russia is bleeding worse in Ukraine than in Afghanistan: up to 500 Russian soldiers have died every day in the first four weeks of the invasion. According to NATO estimates, between 7,000 and 15,000 Putin army personnel have been killed since the fighting began on February 24. A NATO military official, who requested anonymity, said the organization’s calculations are based on information provided by Ukrainian officials, leaks from the Russian side, and data collected by various intelligence services. During ten years of occupation in Afghanistan, between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet Union recorded 15,000 dead soldiers.
A month versus a decade
An anonymous NATO official leaks that as many Russian soldiers have died in a month in Ukraine as in a decade in Afghanistan
One month after the start of the biggest offensive in Europe since the Second World War, Russia finds itself involved in a devastating military campaign, without an official number of casualties (the Kremlin admits less than 500 casualties in a month) and with an economy crippled by Western sanctions. US President Joe Biden and several allies are meeting today in Brussels and Warsaw to discuss new punitive measures and more military aid for Ukraine.
In a video call to the Japanese Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski assured that thousands of civilians have died in the first month of the war, including at least 121 Ukrainian children. “Our people cannot even properly bury their murdered relatives, friends, and neighbors. (The dead) must be buried in the gardens of the destroyed buildings or along the roads.”
Mariupol resistance
In four weeks of the invasion, the Ukrainian port city has gone from 430,000 inhabitants to just 100,000
The southern port city of Mariupol has suffered the worst fighting and shelling to date. Zelensky pointed out that the original population of 430,000 inhabitants has been reduced to just 100,000 in the first month of the invasion. A week ago, the city authorities explained that 2,300 had died so far, but the total figure is probably much higher after the intense attacks in recent days.