“Russia has more than 100,000 dead and wounded, including 20,000 killed in action,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference.
Kirby explained that half of those killed belonged to the Russian private military group, “Wagner”, and that the majority of them were former prisoners “who were thrown into the fighting in Bakhmut (eastern Ukraine). without adequate training and military leadership”.
The US spokesman stressed that “the conclusion is that Russia’s attack backfired.”
In contrast, Kirby declined to make any statement about the casualties suffered by Ukraine, which is backed by a US-led Western coalition facing Russian forces.
And on that, Kirby said, “It’s up to them whether they talk about this (human casualties) thing or not. I’m not going to divulge anything that would make it difficult for them. They’re the victims, and Russia is the aggressor.”
In recent weeks, most of the fighting in Ukraine has been concentrated in the Donbass region (east), in particular in Bakhmut, the almost completely destroyed industrial city, of which Russian forces claim to now control 80%.
Elements of the Russian paramilitary group “Wagner” and other forces are fighting Ukrainian forces house to house in an attempt to control what has become known as the “Road of Life”. .
Both sides spoke of gains made in recent days, with Colonel General Oleksandr Sersky, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, saying Russia was continuing to make ‘maximum efforts’ to capture the city, but had so far failed . town, the enemy was counterattacked by our units.” Leave a few sites.
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