Sunday 8 May 2022 05:17 PM Ukraine claims more than 25,000 Russian servicemen have died since invasion ... trends now
The Russian death toll amid Putin's war in Ukraine now stands at more than 25,000, according to the Land Forces of Ukraine's latest figures.
A total of 25,500 Russian soldiers have been killed in bitter fighting, while Putin's forces have lost 1130 tanks, 199 planes, 156 helicopters, 509 artillery systems and 2741 armoured personnel carriers, the Land Forces claim.
The startling figures come as Europe and Ukraine celebrate Victory in Europe Day (VE Day), marking the triumph of the Allies over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Russian forces meanwhile are engaged in bloody battles all along the eastern front from Kharkiv to Mariupol as Putin tries to secure some kind of victory to bolster Russia's Victory Day celebrations tomorrow, May 9.
Western estimates of the Russian death toll in Ukraine are somewhat lower, but still place the losses to the Kremlin's forces upwards of 15,000.
It comes as Russia lost its 39th high-ranking officer on the battlefield today.
Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was killed in a skirmish near Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have mounted a counter-offensive to take a number of nearby towns.
An intelligence update posted yesterday by Britain's Ministry of Defence said several of Putin's senior commanders are being forced onto the battlefield 'to take personal leadership of operations' due to 'faltering Russian performance on the frontline'.
A total of 25,500 Russian soldiers have been killed in bitter fighting, while Putin's forces have lost 1130 tanks, 199 planes, 156 helicopters, 509 artillery systems and 2741 armoured personnel carriers, the Land Forces of Ukraine claim.
Russian forces are engaged in bloody battles all along the eastern front from Kharkiv to Mariupol as Putin tries to secure some kind of victory to bolster Russia's Victory Day celebrations tomorrow, May 9 (Ukrainian artillery shoot from their positions at an undisclosed in the area of Kharkiv, Ukraine, 07 May 2022)
War World II veteran, Ivan Lisun, 97, wears a jacket with his medals and pins outside his house which was damaged after a Russian bombing, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zolochiv near Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 6, 2022
Russia lost its 39th high ranking officer on the battlefield today. Lt-Col Fezul Bichikaev, 36, was killed in a skirmish near Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, where Ukrainian forces have mounted a counter-offensive to take a number of nearby towns
A view of the statue of Ukrainian philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda standing in the damaged Hryhoriy Skovoroda Literary Memorial Museum after shelling in Skovorodynivka village near Kharkiv, Ukraine, 07 May 2022
'Difficulties in command and control, as well as faltering Russian performance on the front line, have drawn senior commanders onto the battlefield, likely to take personal leadership of operations,' the MoD tweeted yesterday.
'However, it is not clear that the presence of these commanders on the battlefield has led to a refined or altered operational concept. Flawed planning assumptions and failures in sustainment continue to undermine Russian progress.
'The forward deployment of commanders has exposed them to significant risk, leading to disproportionately high losses of Russian officers in this conflict. This has resulted in a force that is slow to respond to setbacks and unable to alter its approach on the battlefield.'
The Russian onslaught has been met with staunch resistance in Ukraine, forcing Putin and his military leaders to abandon plans to take Kyiv earlier in the war and focus their assault exclusively on the eastern Donbas region.
But the Ukrainian military is also thought to have sustained major losses in the defence of their nation - though authorities have not released an official number of casualties.
