100,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian invasion - report

• Published date: 17 March 2023
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

This comes amid a grueling struggle since February 24, 2022, with a constantly shifting front line throughout Ukraine's eastern oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv

This also includes Russian missile and artillery strikes on other areas of the country, including the central oblasts of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Dnipro and Odesa, even as far west as Lviv.

For its part, Russia has also reportedly suffered heavy casualties in the war.

According to recent information from the Ukrainian military, Russia has so far lost:

* 163,320 soldiers

* 305 aircraft

* 290 helicopters

* 2,145 drones

* 265 air defense systems

* 2,552 artillery systems

* 504 multiple rocket launch systems

* 18 ships

* 3,506 tanks

* 6,823 armored combat vehicles

* 5,401 fuel tankers and other vehicles

It should be noted that these death tolls, both from Russian and Ukrainian sources, are difficult to verify.

Ukraine-Russia War: The fierce fighting around Bakhmut

Currently, the fiercest battleground in the ongoing war is around the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk Oblast.

Russian forces, alongside mercenaries from the Wagner Group, have been laying siege to the city for several months and have destroyed much of the city, though Ukrainian forces have consistently managed to hold onto some ground.

According to the BBC, between 20,000-30,000 Russian soldiers have been either killed or wounded in and around Bakhmut, and earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 1,100 Russian troops were killed in the area in the preceeding days. NATO figures also put the ratio at five dead Russian soldiers for every one Ukrainian, though these figures are questionable and are always changing.

What's more is that it is unclear what the strategic value for the city may be for either side, though both Russia and Ukraine have stressed the city's importance.

According to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the Bakhmut's importance is more symbolic than...