This morning, Ukraine released an update on the struggle in the country. According to the army of Ukraine, the Russians would have lost more than 21,000 soldiers, a number many times greater than what the Kremlin claims. In addition, the Ukrainians claim to have knocked out a lot of Russian equipment, including planes, helicopters and artillery, a claim that is difficult to verify independently.
Despite this, the large Russian losses show that the war for Putin is not going as smoothly as previously hoped in the Kremlin. In March, with an army of 280,000 men by February 24, the Russians moved rapidly closer and closer to Kiev. They eventually withdrew at the end of April due to logistical problems, shortages and fierce Ukrainian resistance, although several crimes were first committed in the occupied towns and cities around Kiev.
The battle is currently focused, in the so-called ‘second phase’, on the Donbas and southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, morale in the Russian army would continue to fall, according to British media. The British Ministry of Defense writes on Twitter that the Ukrainians continue to offer fierce resistance, so that the Russian offensive in the Donbas seems to be stalling. With brute force, such as in the port city of Mariupol, the Russians would like to create a corridor from the Donbas via the Crimea to Transnistria, a Russian-occupied area in Moldova. According to Russia experts, Putin is alluding to more attacks so that he can actually claim a victory on May 9, the so-called ‘Victory Day’.