The Russian military has gained the upper hand in Ukraine despite more than 350,000 casualties since the war began, according to recent intelligence reports.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the current average daily number of killed and wounded Russian soldiers is 983.
This is the highest daily casualty rate for Moscow since President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, according to the UK intel.
The increase reflects Russia’s use of mass or attritional warfare, which involves mobilizing a large number of soldiers to carry out assaults with almost no cover.
“Although costly in terms of human life, the resulting effect has increased the pressure on Ukraine’s position across the frontline,” the UK MoD report noted.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 03 March 2024.
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‘Winning the War’
The Association of the US Army (AUSA) recently published a paper that claimed Russia is gaining the upper hand.
It pointed out that invading forces now control some key Ukrainian territories, and they are not likely to be pushed back by anything other than brutal land warfare.
At present, Kyiv cannot afford such warfare given its dwindling military supplies, the paper stated.
“Ukraine’s inability to generate the size of force, coupled with the destructive warfighting capabilities needed to destroy Russia’s army … means that this war of attrition will likely grind on until either Ukraine can generate the force needed to evict Putin’s army from Ukraine, Ukraine becomes strategically exhausted and has to quit the conflict, or both parties decide to end the conflict,” the paper wrote.
Last month, Norway’s intelligence service made a similar observation, saying Moscow is currently in a stronger position than it was a year ago and is now moving toward gaining a strategic advantage.
