Russia suffers its highest losses since the battle for Bakhmut amid new offensive

Russian casualties in Ukraine have risen to their highest levels in months according to a recent update on Moscow’s special military operation from Britain’s Ministry of Defense. 

The British intelligence update noted that Moscow’s losses haven’t been as bad as they are now since the peak of Russia’s campaign to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut. 

Fighting along the frontlines in Ukraine has increased markedly since Kyiv launched its long-awaited counter-offensive and recent battles have turned into intense struggles.  

On June 18th, The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces noted that it had killed or wounded 650 Russian personnel during its ongoing battles over twenty-four hours. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense also claimed its armed forces were inflicting big losses on its enemy and noted they had inflicted 735 losses on Ukraine according to Newsweek.  

It does look as if both sides are feeling the consequences of the ongoing battles in the east but Ukrainian forces could be getting the better of their tired Russian opponents. 

“In recent days, heavy fighting has continued, with the most intense combat focused in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, western Donetsk Oblast, and around Bakhmut,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense wrote in its June 19th war update. 

“In all these areas,” the British intelligence update added, “Ukraine continues to pursue offensive operations and has made small advances,” operations that have led to very heavy losses for the Russian forces defending the frontlines. 

Russian forces in the south were conducting “relatively effective defensive operations,” the update noted, adding that sides were “suffering high casualties, with Russian losses likely the highest since the peak of the battle for Bakhmut in March.”

The battle for Bakhmut has been the bloodiest of the war so far and estimates from the United States pegged losses between December and May 2023 at somewhere between 100,000 casualties with roughly 20,000 killed according to the Associated Press. 

On June 17th, Ukraine’s General Staff claimed Russia lost 670 soldiers in the battles at the front, and on June 19th the group’s update noted Moscow had lost 630 troops. 

"It is very difficult to determine casualties in an ongoing conflict since both sides will try to keep the data secret and inflate the number of adversary casualties," King’s College London postdoctoral war researcher Marina Maron told Newsweek. 

We might not know how badly Russian forces are suffering but we do know things must be difficult since the counter-offensive began earlier this month. BBC News embedded a journalist with Ukraine’s 68th Jaeger Brigade, which retook the village of Blahodatne. 

“Troops are launching probing attacks, while most of Ukraine's forces are being held in reserve, waiting for a big enough opening in Russian defenses to launch a main attack and try to recapture land in the south of the country,” wrote Quentin Sommerville.

“In their attempt to widen the front, sections of the 68th Brigade will attack from the countryside east of Blahodatne and Makarivka, across minefields and directly in the line of Russian fire,” Sommerville added in his report.

With the battles heating up, the worst of Russia's casualty numbers are likely ahead of the Kremlin. The Guardian noted Ukraine has already claimed to have killed or injured 4600 Russian soldiers as of June 18th and that number will only rise as more of Kyiv's forces get committed to the fight.