Russia lost another 560 military personnel over the course of a single day this week in its invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said, as the total number of Russian army casualties in the war approaches 150,000.
About 148,690 Russian personnel have been eliminated since the conflict began more than a year ago, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed in its most recent casualty report released Monday.
The military staff put the figure at 148,130 in a report from the previous day.
In addition to personnel, Russia has also lost 3,385 tanks, 6,621 armored fighting vehicles and 2,380 artillery systems, among other pieces of military equipment, according to the latest data provided by Ukraine’s military.
Russia has been accused of sending poorly trained and ill-equipped mobilized troops to the frontlines, with analysts and Ukrainian officials claiming the conscripted soldiers were treated as “cannon fodder.”
Russian “human wave” attacks were reported around the besieged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s partially occupied Donetsk province since late last year.
The tactic, which was commonly used during World War I, involved Russian forces trying to flood the battlefield with a wave of densely packed soldiers sent directly toward the enemy line with the goal of overwhelming the opponent.
While such tactics supposedly helped in past offensives, Russia has cut back on human wave attacks, evidence pointed out.
A seized Russian military manual suggested that Russian forces have started to implement new assault tactics “to compensate for current combat power limitations in response to continued offensive failures,” according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“The manual indicates that the Russian military is resorting to employing a form of simplified combined arms warfare that has likely been pared down to compensate for the overall degradation of Russian manpower and equipment capacity and which is easier for inexperienced and untrained mobilized personnel slotted into such detachments to employ,” the American think tank said in a Monday statement.
The change is likely partially influenced by the operations of the Wagner Group paramilitary organization around Bakhmut, according to the ISW.
While the Wagner Group’s fighters have reportedly gained ground in Ukraine as they continue to lead assaults, the mercenary company may have already suffered 30,000 casualties since the war began, according to White House National Security Council adviser John Kirby.
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