White House declassifies information on massive Russian casualties as Zelenskyy calls for more help

Russia has lost nearly 90% of its original troops since invading Ukraine in February 2022, according to a US intelligence report, declassified as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Washington to ask for additional military aid, according to media reports.

Moscow's hope with a massive and costly push into eastern Ukraine during the fall and early winter was to stoke mistrust of Ukraine's capabilities among its Western allies and erode their support for the defending nation. , said Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council. seconds in the New York Times. Russia has lost up to 315,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing in Ukraine since the start of the war and loads of equipment, setting back military modernization efforts by about 15 years, according to an intelligence assessment. intelligence recently declassified.

Russia began the war with 360,000 forces, and Moscow has carried out mobilizations and sent convicts to the front to make up for staggering losses, the NYT reported, citing the assessment. In addition, Russia has lost 2,200 tanks after starting the war with 3,500, resorting to retiring 50-year-old T-62 tanks.

Russia's gambit produced no strategic gains, Watson said, according to the NYT. The U.S. intelligence community believes the losses forced Russia to commit less sophisticated equipment and more inexperienced troops to the frontline, combining to reduce the complexity of Russian military operations on the frontline.

“The war in Ukraine has sharply set back 15 years of Russia's effort to modernize its land force,” the declassified assessment said, according to the NYT. “By the end of November, Russia had lost more than a quarter of its stockpile of pre-2022 ground forces equipment and has suffered casualties among its trained professional army.”

While engaged in attrition with Ukrainian troops in places like Avdiivka since October, the Russian military has suffered 13,000 men killed or wounded and the loss of 220 combat vehicles, Watson said. seconds to the politician

Ukraine does not disclose the number of victims. US officials say they are not as high as Russia's, according to the NYT.

In the United States Senate I had a friendly and frank conversation.

I briefed members of the US Senate on the current military and economic situation in Ukraine, the importance of maintaining US life support, and answered their questions.

I am grateful to the Senate… pic.twitter.com/GDEi9axEn7

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) December 12, 2023

The Biden administration disclosed assessment as Zelenskyy met with Senate leaders and House Speaker Mike Johnson search his support for $60 billion in security assistance to the White House requested for next year, Politico reported.

A few Republicans are skeptical that billions in additional US weapons and training can have a worthwhile effect on the battlefield, the NYT reported. Ukraine's supposed summer counter-offensive, aimed at recapturing large areas of territory from Russia, it faded away with marginal gains, despite US support.

Meanwhile, the Democrats are they doubt to prop up funding for border security in exchange for more GOP support for Ukraine aid.

Moscow “appears to believe that a military blockade over the winter will deplete Western support for Ukraine,” the intelligence assessment said, Watson said, according to the NYT.

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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