Russia Losing 10,000 Troops per Kilometer Gained Around Avdiivka: Ukraine

Russia is losing some 10,000 troops per kilometer gained around the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, a spokesperson for Kyiv’s military has said.

Ukraine’s Tavriisk group of forces spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun said Wednesday that Moscow’s forces have lost some 25,000 troops fighting in the Donetsk region in approximately the past two months, and that 80 percent of these losses have occurred around Avdiivka.

Clashes have been increasing in intensity in the Donetsk region as Russia battles to seize Avdiivka. Since October 10, Russia has poured thousands of troops, tanks and armored vehicles into the area, which has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk.

Moscow and Kyiv have both reportedly suffered high losses of troops and equipment.

On Thursday, Newsweek was told by a U.S. volunteer and retired U.S. Marine who participated in the war in Ukraine that recovery teams that have been in the area say “this is the most Russian bodies they’ve seen on the entire battlefield in the entire war.”

Newsweek has not been able to independently verify the claims and has contacted Russia’s Defense Ministry via email for comment.

“If we count from October 10, when the enemy became more active, in some places he advanced by one and a half to two kilometers,” Shtupun said on national television.

“But it cost them dearly. In a little more than two months[…]the enemy lost almost 25,000 men, dead and wounded, about 200 tanks, and over 400 armored vehicles in the Tavria (Tavriisk) group’s area of responsibility in Donetsk Oblast,” Shtupun added.

He also said that the Russian military often forms new companies from degraded units to conduct attacks near Avdiivka, though some well-trained and well-equipped units continue to fight in the area, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said in an update on Wednesday.

The think tank said Russian forces reportedly advanced near Avdiivka on Wednesday, but there are no confirmed changes in the front line in this area.

The ISW said that while a Russian military blogger had claimed that Russian forces made marginal advances southwest of Avdiivka near Pervomaiske, it has not seen any visual evidence to support this claim.

“Russian and Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces attacked northwest, west, and southwest of Avdiivka and near the Avdiivka industrial zone and coke plant,” the think tank said. “A Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces are counterattacking around Avdiivka.”

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via [email protected].