No limit. Russian army losses exceeded 300,000 – why this does not stop the aggressor
The Ukrainian Defense Forces killed more than 300,000 Russian troops.
The situation at the front remains difficult: despite heavy losses, the Russian army is attacking Ukrainian positions on a daily basis, says Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Army.
For any civilized country, the level of losses suffered by the Russians would be enormous and would lead to the end of the war, Defense Express editor-in-chief Serhiy Zgurets tells LIGA.net. But this does not work with Russia.
We examined why there is no psychological limit that can affect Russia in this war.
WHAT HAPPENED. On October 31, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the losses of the Russian army in Ukraine exceeded 300,000 people. Despite this, the occupation forces are trying to advance in the areas of Kupyansk, Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Maryinka, and Staromayorsk.
There were 36 combat engagements on the frontline over that day.
In October, most of the Russian losses were on the Avdiyivka axis – at more than 7,000 people over the past two and a half weeks, Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for the joint press center of the Tauride Defense Forces, tells Liga.net. More than 500 of them fell in the past day.
At the same time, the Russians are continuing their attempts to surround Avdiyivka. The situation is complicated but under control, emphasizes Shtupun.
Ukrainian troops repelled five attacks in the areas of Avdiyivka, Tonenke and Pervomayske over the last day. Over 15 attacks were repelled in the areas of Maryinka and Novomykhailivka. An attempted assault by the Russian army in the vicinity of Staromayorske was also stifled.
Russians remain very active in the Lyman-Kupyansk sector, Volodymyr Fityo, head of the public relations service of the Ground Forces Command, tells LIGA.net.
"The enemy carried out eight air strikes and 16 kamikaze drone strikes over the last day," Fityo says. "There were also 736 attacks. In particular, four of them were from multiple launch rocket systems, 67 from artillery, and 156 from mortars."
The enemy's losses in the area amounted to 112 troops.
In the area of Bakhmut, the aggressor has significantly reinforced its grouping and switched from defense to active operations, reports Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Army.
WHY THIS MATTERS. For any civilized country, such losses would be enormous, Defense Express editor-in-chief Zgurets tells LIGA.net.
But even 300,000 dead is not a psychological indicator that will have resonant consequences for Russia. On the one hand, propaganda, on the other hand, the poverty of Russians allows the Kremlin to either intimidate people and send them to the front, or, through military payments, recruit people who are ready to die in the war, Zgurets says.
So this does not affect the Russians' plans to destroy Ukraine, and they are trying to move forward on several fronts at once.
In the Lyman-Kupyansk sector, the enemy is adapting, Fityo clarifies: "They are sparing equipment, but sending assault units into the battle."
The situation is similar in the Tauride sector – the Defense Forces have knocked out a large number of enemy vehicles, so they are using them more cautiously, says Shtupun: "Whether this is because they are forming a new striking fist or whether there is really little equipment left is hard to say."
Instead, after three days of relative calm, enemy attack aircraft significantly intensified their activities along the frontline. In particular, the Russian military carried out 21 air strikes in the Tauride sector yesterday.
WHAT'S NEXT. It is unlikely that there is a casualty rate that will be psychologically significant for the Russians, Zgurets argues. The continuity of senior commanding officers in the enemy army will contribute to this.
The Russian army no longer has NCOs and officers at the level of company and battalion commanders. They are replaced circularly because they are constantly dying, Zgurets explains. These positions are filled either by former officers or by cadets who graduate early from universities.
Senior officers, from corps commanders upwards, retain their positions.
The Russian command is driven by the fact that potential mobilization resources outnumber Ukrainian ones four to one. So they can continue to disregard the value of human life.
"Fear and poverty are the vice grip in which the Russian population exists. These are the two factors that are now forming the mobilization resource of the Russian Federation," concludes Zgurets. "That is why they will continue to go to the front, either hoping to earn money before they die or out of fear that they will be killed by their own people."