NAccording to calculations by the United States, around 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in the war with Ukraine. “The latest US intelligence estimates are about 15,000 (Russian) soldiers killed and maybe three times as many wounded. So significant losses,” CIA Director William Burns said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. “And the Ukrainians suffered too – probably a little less. But, you know, significant losses.”
Russia keeps military deaths a state secret even in peacetime, and has not consistently updated its official figures during the war. On March 25, it was said that 1,351 Russian soldiers had died. The government in Kyiv said in June that 100 to 200 Ukrainian soldiers are being killed in the fighting every day.
US pledges more Himars missile launchers to Kyiv
The United States has pledged additional Himar rocket launchers to Ukraine in support of the 148-day war against Russia. The leadership in Kyiv was grateful, but also urgently demands the delivery of air defense systems. A victory for his country against the Russian attackers would protect all of Europe, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized in his video address on Thursday night.
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin meanwhile announced the reconstruction of cities in the Donbass that were destroyed in the first place by the war he ordered. Moscow repeatedly presents itself as the protecting power of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and justifies the attack on the neighboring country with the alleged protection of the people living there, among other things.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has now confirmed that Russia is actually about much more than the Donbass: As expected, his threat to take other areas was met with great anger in Kyiv.
US government: More multiple rocket launchers for Ukraine
The US government plans to supply Ukraine with four more Himars multiple rocket launchers. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during online consultations with the so-called Ukraine Contact Group from dozens of countries that the Himars missile launchers that have been delivered so far have “made so much difference on the battlefield”. The US would also provide additional arms, ammunition and equipment, including missiles and artillery shells, as part of the next package for Ukraine. Details would be announced later in the week.
Austin said at a press conference after the deliberations that there had been “many new announcements” from defense secretaries and army chiefs from the more than 50 participating countries. “We see that countries from all over the world continue to provide urgently needed systems and ammunition.” He was not more specific.
The US is the main arms supplier to Ukraine. So far, according to US Chief of Staff Mark Milley, they have already delivered twelve Himars systems in addition to numerous other weapon systems.
Also on Wednesday, the Ukrainian President’s wife Olena Selenska urged the United States in a speech in the Capitol in Washington for more weapons and specifically for air defense systems.
Zelenskyj: Russia uses Ukraine as a test field
Meanwhile, President Zelensky himself accused Russia of using Ukraine as a testing ground for possible attacks against other European countries. “Russia is testing everything that can be used against other European countries in Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy. “It started with gas wars and ended with a full-scale invasion, rocket terror and burning down of Ukrainian cities.”