Russia has reportedly expended massive amounts of resources in Bakhmut, allegedly deploying Wagner troops with little direction or training.
The Russian military has lost over 100,000 soldiers to death or injury in Bakhmut over the last four months, according to new estimates from U.S. officials.
Since December, Bakhmut, a city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, has seen some of the most intense military conflicts of the entire yearlong Russian invasion. Russian forces have reportedly been pouring massive amounts of military resources into prying the city away from Ukraine, which still maintains slim control of the area. While some experts have said that securing Bakhmut would provide Russia with key supply lines and clear the way to take other cities, others have questioned its strategic value compared to the effort being expended to take it.
On Monday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby provided a striking new estimate for how much Russia has lost during the battle for Bakhmut. Kirby said that Russian forces have incurred over 100,000 casualties since December, including around 20,000 deaths. He later clarified that these figures were strictly from Bakhmut, not the overall war in Ukraine.
