US officers estimate that greater than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed because the outbreak of the battle with Russia final February, Politico has reported, with out disclosing its sources.

Washington is anxious by Kiev’s lack of ammunition, air defenses and skilled troopers within the run-up to a serious Ukrainian offensive anticipated later in spring, the US information web site stated in a report on Wednesday.

“Upwards of 100,000 Ukrainian forces have died within the year-long warfare, US officers estimate, together with essentially the most skilled troopers,” Politico wrote.

“Many of those losses are happening in Bakhmut,” it added. The town, which Russia calls Artyomovsk, is a key Ukrainian stronghold and logistics hub within the Folks’s Republic of Donetsk. Russian forces have been advancing on Artyomovsk since August final yr, and, in response to Wagner Personal Army Firm chief Evgeny Prigozhin, have now virtually totally encircled town and brought management of its japanese half.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has repeatedly insisted that he is not going to give up Artyomovsk, regardless of stories of tensions with US officers, who’ve allegedly urged Kiev to withdraw and lower its losses. Earlier this week, Zelensky once more stated that that the protection of the important thing metropolis could be strengthened.

On Monday, the Washington Submit reported: “US and European officers have estimated that as many as 120,000 Ukrainian troopers have been killed or wounded because the begin of Russia’s invasion early final yr.”

Politico identified that Washington and Brussels can solely guess the extent of Ukraine’s losses, as Kiev retains this info secret even from its Western backers, who’ve supplied it with billions of {dollars}’ value of weapons.

Talking after Wednesday’s digital assembly of the multinational Ukraine Protection Contact Group, US Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin stated, “Ukraine doesn’t have any time to waste.”

“We’ve got to ship swiftly and totally on our promised commitments” to Kiev, together with provides of “armored capabilities,” coaching for Ukrainian troops, spare elements and different issues, he urged.

Final week, Russia’s Protection Minister Sergey Shoigu introduced that Ukraine has misplaced at the very least 11,000 troops through the combating in February. The variety of killed and wounded on the Ukrainian aspect had risen by greater than 40% since January when it stood at 6,500, he added.

“The help of the Kiev regime by NATO nations doesn’t result in the success of the Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. Quite the opposite, there’s a vital improve in losses among the many personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the minister stated.

Shoigu final supplied an estimate of Ukraine’s casualties within the battle again in September. On the time, he stated that they amounted to greater than 100,000, with at the very least 61,000 troops killed and virtually 50,000 wounded.

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