The Ukrainian Armed Forces have killed 910 Russian soldiers in the last 24 hours, its General Staff suggested on Wednesday morning, as Putin’s war cabinet was accused of wasting troops to “capture fields”. The intense fighting in Donetsk, with Russian specialist VDV forces fighting alongside Wagner Group mercenaries to try to encircle the city of Bakhmut and cut off the Ukrainian forces within, appears to evince the beginning of Putin’s major offensive.
But Russian military bloggers have been critical of the “rushed” offensive, as former commander Igor Girkin said on Tuesday. Nearly 2000 of Putin’s soldiers have been killed in the last 48 hours, according to Ukraine, many of which were likely a result of the fight for Bakhmut, as well as Vulhedar 70 miles southwest. With their strategic value under question, military bloggers have called on Putin to “abandon the current tactics”, which involve “spending resources on the planned capture of fields”.
