As fighting continues in an increasingly unpredictable war, an adviser to the Ukrainian president reported that according to estimates by military chiefsbetween 10,000 and 13,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the nine months of war against Russia. A figure lower than the estimates of Western leaders, amid the secrecy of the government of Volodimir Zelenski on this matter.

Russian forces kept up rocket attacks on infrastructure and on Ukrainian troop positions along the contact line, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Friday, adding that Moscow’s military advance has focused on a dozen of cities, including Bakhmut and Avdiivka, in the east.

On Thursday night, Mykhailo Podolyak, one of President Zelensky’s top advisers, reported new figures on Ukrainian soldiers killed in battle, noting that the number of troops wounded was greater and that the number of civilian victims was “significant”, although he did not give details.

“We have official figures from the higher command and they amount to between 10,000 and 12,500-13,000 dead,” Podolyak told Channel 24.

And he added that Zelensky would publish the official data “at the right time.”

The Army did not confirm those figures and it was unusual for a Ukrainian official to provide such a tally. The latest data was from the end of August, when the head of the armed forces said that nearly 9,000 soldiers had died.

In June, when Russian forces seized control of the eastern Lugansk region, Zelensky said Ukraine was losing “60 to 100 soldiers a day, killed in action, and about 500 wounded in action.”

Dubious numbers

On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, reported that 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed before her office corrected her comments, calling them inaccurate and saying that the figure referred to both dead and wounded.

Last month, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that up to 40,000 Ukrainian civilians and “more than” 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the war so far. He added that it was “the same probably on the Ukrainian side.”

In September, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that 5,937 Russian soldiers had been killed in almost seven months of fighting, following the invasion that began in late February.

Both sides are suspected of minimize your casualties so as not to affect the morale of his soldiers.

The UN human rights office, in its latest weekly update published on Monday, reported that it had registered 6,655 civilian deaths and 10,368 wounded, but acknowledged that its tally includes only the casualties it has confirmed and that the actual number is probably much higher.

The dreaded winter

Ukrainians are bracing for freezing winter temperatures as Russia sharpens attacks against infrastructure, including power plants and transformers, leaving many without heat, water or electricity.

Ukraine faces an avalanche of artillery shelling and drone strikes since early October.

The shelling has been especially intense in Kherson, in the south, since the Ukrainian army recaptured the city almost three weeks ago.

Local authorities said two-thirds of Kherson already had power on Thursday night, after fresh Russian attacks cut off recently restored power.

Source: WHD and AFP