The two sobbing women dressed in black hold the coffin with the Ukrainian flag. One of them is the girlfriend of Ivan Yaroviy, according to the AP news agency. He completed his degree at the Air Force University in 2021. For his defense efforts in the war against Russia, Ivan was awarded the “Bohdan Khmelnytsky” Order. Now the 23-year-old is buried on Heltenes allé in the city of Poltava. In front is a bouquet of flowers. On it hangs a veil that reads “my heart’s Batman forever”. That’s how the girlfriend remembers Ivan. They were to marry on September 29. The Ukrainian lieutenant and the five other crew members of his attack helicopter were buried on Friday. They are part of a grim and growing statistic. Counter-offensive seems to be successful Ukraine’s spring offensive was long overdue. Now it seems that the country is succeeding better on the battlefield in the east. Ukrainian forces have probably made it behind Russia’s front line, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar tells Reuters that they are advancing both in the east and in the south. She says Ukraine has taken back around three square kilometers of land around the town of Bakhmut in the last week. The claims have not been verified. In any case, the war has a high price on both sides. 70,000 dead Ukraine is said to have lost 70,000 soldiers since the war started, and up to 120,000 are said to have been wounded. Anonymous American sources recently told The New York Times newspaper. The last time information was leaked from US military authorities was in April this year. Then it was said that 17,500 Ukrainian soldiers had lost their lives in the war. In the course of a few months, there must have been a dramatic increase in the number of fallen soldiers on the Ukrainian side. MOURNING: A colleague of Ivan and the other soldiers shows clear emotion as he says goodbye to his comrades. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP The same American sources estimate that 120,000 Russian soldiers are dead and up to 180,000 wounded. There is reason to emphasize that the figures are uncertain. Both Ukraine and Russia keep the loss figures secret, so it is difficult to calculate them. The counter-offensive is demanding. When an army attacks, at least three times as many soldiers are required as when defending. Shortly after Ukraine launched its counteroffensive against the Russian forces in early June, the Ukrainians suffered particularly heavy losses. OFFENSIVE: Ukrainian forces fire at Russian positions in eastern Ukraine. Photo: AP It was then that they tried to advance at the front line in the southern part of the country. Without enough air defense, both modern western weapons and infantry soldiers were hit. The Russian minefields were a big problem. In addition, the Ukrainian forces were constantly shelled by Russian artillery and combat helicopters. A Ukrainian officer tells the BBC that the fighting and losses here were worse than in Bakhmut. The symbolically important city of Donetsk was finally captured by the Russians in May, after brutal fighting that lasted about a year. Changed strategy After the losses at the beginning of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military leadership took a more cautious line. STRATEGY: Ukraine has spread its forces out along the long front line. Photo: Reuters They no longer concentrated their forces around one point along the front. Instead, they spread out the detachments of foot soldiers over much larger areas. It may make the soldiers more vulnerable and may have helped to make the Ukrainian casualty figures higher. Moreover, Western military experts point out that the Ukrainian army is not good enough to make the various departments work together during combat. It normally takes years of training to get tanks, artillery, engineer forces, foot soldiers and intelligence to work together seamlessly. In addition, Ukraine has almost no fighter support. Losing the most experienced If the Ukrainians have indeed lost more than 50,000 soldiers in the last six months, that is a large proportion of their total strength. RUSSIAN GRAVEYARD: The Russians have also suffered heavy losses, even greater than the Ukrainian ones. Photo: AP According to The New York Times, Ukraine’s army consists of about 500,000 soldiers in total. There are probably many soldiers with combat experience who have lost their lives on the Ukrainian side. They are replaced by inexperienced soldiers, which can make units less effective in combat. It is very demanding to attack the defense lines that the Russian forces have built up along parts of the front line. They consist of wide minefields, a network of trenches, concrete blocks to stop tanks and artillery forces shelling the Ukrainians from a distance. In addition, it is difficult for the Ukrainians to get wounded soldiers fast and good medical help along the long front. Disagreement about the consequences This is the situation. But what does that mean? In working on this article, news has been in contact with several Norwegian military experts. They do not fully agree in their assessments of what the Ukrainian loss figures will mean for the war. One opinion is that these are not dramatic losses – and that the way the war is being conducted now, Ukraine must expect to lose so many soldiers. It is pointed out that the Ukrainians will probably be able to rebuild the military departments that have been hit the hardest. Another opinion is that the increasing number of wounded and dead Ukrainian soldiers could have a major impact on the war and how it develops further. It is said that the losses may contribute to the conflict being deadlocked for a long time to come. The Ukrainians will probably also invest in using as much long-range artillery and rockets as possible against Russian targets far behind the front line. It will be able to reduce the large losses Ukraine has had in recent months.
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Ukrainian losses in the war are said to have increased sharply, according to the USA – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
