Putin has Lost Over 50,000 Troops In His Ukrainian ‘Meat Grinder’ – BBC

ANALYSIS – But “Vlad the Invader” doesn't care. A new study by the BBC concludes that more than 50,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since Moscow invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

In the second 12 months on the front line – as Moscow pushed its so-called meat grinder strategy – the body count was nearly 25% higher than in the first year.

BBC notes that “The term meat grinder has been used to describe the way Moscow sends waves of soldiers forward relentlessly to try to wear down Ukrainian forces and expose their locations to Russian artillery.” (RELATED: As Ukraine Buckles, Republican Congressman Accuses Colleagues Of Pushing Russian Propaganda)

Independent media group Mediazona, BBC Russian and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.

More than 27,300 Russian soldiers died in the second year of combat – according to the findings – a reflection of how territorial gains have come at a huge human cost.

BBC reports:

…at least two in five of Russia's dead fighters are people who had nothing to do with the country's military before the invasion.

At the start of the 2022 invasion, Russia was able to use its professional troops to conduct complicated military operations – explains Samuel Cranny-Evans of the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi).

But a lot of those experienced soldiers are now likely to be dead or wounded, says the defence analyst, and have been replaced by people with little training or military experience – such as volunteers, civilians and prisoners.

These people can't do what professional soldiers can do, explains Mr Cranny-Evans. “This means they have to do things that are a lot simpler tactically – which generally seems to be a forward assault onto Ukrainian positions with artillery support.”

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) notes that this is highlighted as Russians fought for the city of Vuhledar using “ineffective human-wave style frontal assaults.”

Meanwhile, another significant spike in combat deaths can be seen in spring 2023, during the battle for Bakhmut – when the Wagner mercenary group helped capture the city from Ukraine, at a cost of roughly 22,000 Wagner troops. (RELATED: US Intel Knew Wagner Group Was Planning Armed Rebellion: Report)

The Kremlin has declined to officially comment.

The overall death toll estimated by the BBC is eight times higher than the only official public acknowledgement of fatalities ever given by Moscow in September 2022.

The actual number of Russian deaths is likely to be much higher, the BBC said, adding that those numbers do not include deaths of militia in Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk – in eastern Ukraine. If those were added, “the death toll on the Russian side would be even higher.”

But Ukraine isn't doing much better.

BBC reports: “In February, President Volodymyr Zelensky said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed – but estimates, based on U.S. intelligence, suggest greater losses.”

This matters because Ukraine's population is 30 percent the size of Russia's (44 million vs. 143 million). And Ukraine is an evolving democracy, while Vladimir Putin rules Russia with an iron fist.

The question is – who can lose more and last longer?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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