Russia suffered heavy losses in the battle for Wuhledar. Individual brigades are said to have lost 40 percent of their pre-war strength.
Vuhledar – Ukrainian troops announced on Wednesday (October 2) that they would withdraw from the hotly contested eastern Ukrainian city of Vuhledar. Russian forces later declared that they had captured the city. Since the start of the Ukraine War, Russian troops have tried to take the mining town. This meant that Russia was able to gain significant territory. But the costs for this are extraordinarily high.
Russia captures Wuhledar: Major losses for elite brigade
This comes from an analysis by BBC News Russia from Friday (October 4th) with the help of Mediazona and a team of volunteers surveyed Russian losses. The exact number of Russian military personnel who fought in Vuhledar cannot be stated. However, it works BBC assumes that the 155th and 40th Marine Brigades alone suffered major losses due to the capture of the city.
The 155th and 40th Elite Brigades are also known as the Black Helmets. Using open data, the… BBC confirm that at least 211 soldiers of the 155th Brigade were killed in the attacks on Wuhledar. In addition, 42 Russian forces are missing. The losses of this unit since the attempt to conquer the city are four times higher than during the ten-year Chechen war. 19 officers are said to be among the victims.
Heavy losses for Russian brigades: more than 2,000 soldiers lost in Wuhledar
The 40th Brigade’s losses amount to 72 dead soldiers and officers. The fact that the Black Helmets suffered heavy losses can also be seen from the fact that the Storm Z unit was assigned to them. The number of dead soldiers who died trying to take Wuhledar is estimated to be twice as many. Around 570 members of the Russian military may have died.
If it is assumed that the missing soldiers and officers also lost their lives, the death toll could rise to around 700. Added to this are the wounded. The BBC works with the numbers of Mediazona and Medusaaccording to which for every Russian soldier killed there are around 1.7 to two seriously injured. According to the calculations, this could have put 1,400 people out of action due to their injuries.
Capture of Wuhledar: Russia pays with heavy losses
If you add up all the losses, Russia could have lost up to 2,100 people in the fighting in Wuhledar alone. More than half of them are said to have not been members of the military before the outbreak of war. This means that the two units would have lost more than 40 percent of their pre-war strength.
According to the analysis, Russian troops have lost important people. A battalion commander is said to have died, two deputy battalion commanders and five company commanders. The BBC assumes it could take seven to eight years before the specialists are replaced. Their death could be of great importance as it could affect the combat effectiveness of the units. It can happen that the troops on the battlefield interfere with each other and become victims of “friendly fire”. This could make Russia’s losses even greater. (vk)
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