Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine four weeks ago, NATO estimates that about 15,000 Russian servicemen have died since the start of the war.
Russia has suffered 30,000 to 40,000 casualties on the battlefield, including 7,000 to 15,000 killed, a senior NATO military officer said at a briefing Wednesday from the alliance’s military headquarters in Belgium.
The officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with the basic rules established by NATO, said the alleged deaths were based on information from the Ukrainian government, instructions from Russia and information from open source. The officer said the number of casualties stems from the rate of three wounded soldiers for every soldier killed. Losses include killed, wounded or missing, as well as those taken prisoner.
Earlier this week, a senior Pentagon spokesman estimated that the Russian military had lost more than 10 percent of its fighting force.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military, stunned in the early days of the war by the fierce fury of the Russian invasion, strengthened and began the difficult task of regaining territory seized by Russia’s initial onslaught.
A senior Pentagon official this week described the resistance of Ukrainians as quick and agile, and, for the first time, seeking to regain lost ground. Russian forces remain largely at a standstill around the capital, Kyiv, said the official, who described intelligence assessments to journalists on condition of anonymity.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine claims that its forces drove the occupying Russian troops out of Makarov – a small suburb of Kiev, but important because it provides control over the highway in the west. These efforts also blocked Russian troops surrounding Kiev from the northwest and gave the Ukrainian military a much-needed success story.
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An assessment published Wednesday by the UK Ministry of Defense described the battlefield in northern Ukraine as “largely static”. Russian troops are likely to be reorganized before resuming large-scale offensive operations, the ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden embarks on a multi-day trip to Europe on Wednesday, beginning Wednesday, to meet with allies on the response to the Russian invasion continuesincluding military aid to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Biden was working on a long-term effort to strengthen defense in Eastern Europe and reduce the continent’s dependence on Russian energy.
Recent developments
â–ºDancers who fled Ukraine – and Russia – because of the war have found a temporary home in Berlin’s leading ballet troupe, the State Ballet, which helps with a place to train, housing and even shoes.
â–ºPutin aide Anatoly Chubais has resigned, left the country and does not intend to return, according to many media outlets. Chubais is the tallest person to retire since the start of the war, according to Reuters.
►Poland states that it seeks to send 45 Russian special services officers, using diplomatic status as a cover, to stay in the country. Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski wrote on Twitter: “We are beating up Russian special services agents in our country.
â–ºThe war has threatened wheat and barley crops in Ukraine, increasing the likelihood of famine in poor areas around the world.
â–ºIn a daily address to the people, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that 100,000 civilians remain in the port city of Mariupol, which was also attacked by the sea after several weeks of air and ground strikes.
â–º The United Nations will face three resolutions on Wednesday on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine after Russia decided to call for a vote on its Security Council resolution, which does not mention Russia’s aggression against its smaller neighbor.
NATO leaders are urging China not to condemn Russia’s invasion
NATO leaders will pressure China to condemn Russia’s invasion and not provide military support to its ally, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
“I expect the leaders to call on China to serve as a member of the UN Security Council,” Stoltenberg told a news conference before watching NATO’s emergency meeting on Ukraine in Brussels on Thursday.
Stoltenberg said Beijing had joined Moscow on the right of independent nations to choose their own path. And he accused China of providing political support to Russia by “spreading outrageous lies and misinformation” about the war.
“China has failed to condemn the invasion,” he said.
Stoltenberg said China must do so now and “make diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful way to end this war as soon as possible.”
– Morin Gropp
WNBA star Britney Greener is in “good shape” in custody in Russia
State Department spokesman Ned Price said U.S. embassy staff in Russia had finally been given consular access to Britney Greener and that the WNBA star was in “good shape.” Greener, who also plays professionally in Russia, has been in custody since last month after Russian officials accused her of trying to enter the country with hashish oil vape cartridges. The verdict could keep her in a Russian prison for 10 years. Greener is in jail until May 19.
NATO will add 4 battle groups
President Joe Biden and other NATO leaders, who will meet in Brussels on Thursday, are likely to agree to strengthen the alliance’s position on land, at sea and in the air, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Stoltenberg said NATO would deploy four new battle groups, each with more than 1,000 troops, in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. In addition to existing forces in the Baltics and Poland, NATO will have eight multinational NATO battle groups along the eastern flank from the Baltic to the Black Sea, he said.
“We are facing a new reality for our security,” Stoltenberg said. “So we need to reset our containment and protection in the long run.”
Biden warns of “real threat” of chemical warfare
President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday of the threat of chemical warfare in Ukraine as he embarked on a four-day trip to Europe to meet with key U.S. allies.
“I think it’s a real threat,” Biden told reporters on the White House South Lawn.
Biden is heading to Brussels for a summit of NATO leaders and a meeting with the European Council, as leaders seek to reaffirm their unity amid Russia’s ongoing offensive against Ukraine. Biden is expected to coordinate with allies military aid to Ukraine and new sanctions against Russia.
On Friday, Biden will travel to Warsaw, Poland, for a bilateral meeting with President Andrzej Duda. The leaders of the two countries are expected to discuss how the allies are responding to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war.
– Michael Collins
Ukraine has said that Russia has seized aid workers in the Mariupol convoy
Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of capturing 15 rescuers and drivers from a humanitarian convoy of 11 buses that were to evacuate residents.
“Employees of the State Emergency Service and bus drivers have been taken prisoner,” Zelensky said. “We are trying to organize stable humanitarian corridors for the people of Mariupol, but almost all our attempts, unfortunately, are stopped by the Russian occupiers, shelling or deliberate terror.
He estimated that 100,000 civilians remained in Mariupol, where more than 400,000 people once lived, after weeks of shelling in the city.
“They have been bombing us for the last 20 days,” said 39-year-old Victoria Totzen, who fled to Poland. “For the past five days, planes have been flying over us every five seconds, dropping bombs everywhere – on homes, kindergartens, art schools, everywhere.”
Ukrainian agency: Russian troops destroyed a laboratory in Chernobyl
A laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is working to improve radioactive waste management, has been destroyed, a Ukrainian agency overseeing the area around the station said on Tuesday.
The lab contained “highly active samples and samples of radionuclides, which are now in the hands of the enemy, who, we hope, will harm themselves and not the civilized world,” the agency said.
Ukraine’s Atomic Regulatory Agency also said on Monday that radiation monitors around the station had stopped working.
Russia seized control of Chernobyl at the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine along with the Zaporozhye power plant. Chernobyl is the site of the world’s largest nuclear disaster in 1986, when a reactor exploded. The exclusion zone is a contaminated area around the plant.
Putin does not rule out the use of nuclear weapons, the spokesman said
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the nearly four-week war with Ukraine, his longtime spokesman told CNN on Tuesday.
Asked by CNN’s chief international presenter Christian Amanpour whether he was convinced Putin would not take such a drastic step, spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the option.
“Well, we have a concept of internal security, and, well, it’s public,” Peskov said. – You can read all the reasons for the use of nuclear weapons. Thus, if it is an existential threat to our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept. “
This is not the first time a high-ranking Russian official has touched on a nuclear threat that could sow fear among opponents. Three days after the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces to be on high alert in response to harsh Western sanctions.
Contributed by: Associated Press
