Ukraine suffered 166K dead, injured in its counteroffensive: MoD
3 Min Read
A top Russian military official has told reporters that any renewed Ukrainian counteroffensive will mark the final defeat of the country's armed forces.
-
Ukrainian soldiers pass by a vehicle burning near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, November 23, 2023. (AP)
Around 166,000 Ukrainian troops were either killed or severely injured as a result of the counteroffensive launched by Ukraine earlier, a senior source in the Russian Defense Ministry told media outlets.
"It should be recalled that the result of the previous counteroffensive plan by Commander-in-Chief Zelenskyy in 2023, which he mildly characterized as 'not so successful,' was the death and severe injuries of more than 166,000 Ukrainian soldiers, as well as the loss of 789 tanks, 2,400 other armored vehicles, and 132 aircraft," the source told reporters, according to Sputnik.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the German newspaper BILD that his government is already planning a new counteroffensive against Russian forces, which will include plans for the destruction of the Crimean Bridge. The Bridge links the Crimean Peninsula to the rest of mainland Russia and was opened to traffic in 2018.
However, Russian officials believe that Zelensky's plots for another counteroffensive will end in a complete disaster for Kiev and mark the final defeat of Ukrainian armed forces.
"Due to such non-trivial approaches in military planning, there is no doubt that the implementation of Zelensky's new plan for a counteroffensive will end in a complete disaster for Ukraine with the final defeat of the armed forces of Ukraine and the beginning of the path to peace on Russian terms," the source told reporters.
"Kiev compensates the huge shortage of military personnel with new cannon fodder, promoting the law on mass forced mobilization of citizens," the source added.
Cannon fodder refers to the use of troops as mere material to be expended in war.
Read more: Ukraine may have to compromise eventually with Russia: NATO
More weapons to Ukraine
The US and NATO's support to Ukraine seem to have opened an unintended black hole into which public funds have been funneled ever since the start of the conflict. However, billions worth of Western military equipment and weapons have failed to meet the expectations of Zelensky and top Ukrainian military generals who demand more.
The commander of US forces in Europe said that Russia will outgun Ukraine 10 to one in weeks if the US fails to approve the additional funding for military aid that has stalled in Congress. Army General Christopher Cavoli informed the House Armed Services Committee that Russia’s artillery advantage over Ukraine will soon double, permitting Ukraine to only fire back one shell in response to 10 Russian ones.
"The situation is extremely serious,” he stressed, adding, “The biggest killer on the battlefield is artillery … and should Ukraine run out, they would run out because we stopped supplying."
Cavoli emphasized that the US gives Ukraine the "lion's share" of 155mm caliber artillery shells and is also the main supplier of its ground-based air defense, which he labeled as "the most critical things on the battlefield."
Read more: Moscow opens probe into Western involvement in 'financing terrorism'
