Ukraine Claims 990 Russian Kills in One Day, But War-Weary Country May Be Running Out of Troops

Ukraine’s army claims Russia’s military took a large death toll during the first weekend of November, Knewz.com reported.

A Facebook post by the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported 990 Russian soldiers on Nov. 6. It also claimed Ukrainian forces destroyed eight Russian tanks and 14 armored combat vehicles.

It’s not clear if the losses came from one battle or many. But a main focus of the fighting right now is Avdiivka, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

A month-long battle there has led to an estimated 600 Russian casualties or more per day, according to Ukraine. That’s double the casualty count during the summer.

But Newsweek noted U.S. officials have indicated in the past that Ukraine may inflate its statistics.

In mid-August, the U.S. Defense Department counted about 120,000 Russian soldiers as dead from the fighting. Ukraine counted more than 250,000 at that time.

Britain’s Defense Ministry tends to side with the U.S. on this. It estimates as of the end of October, Russia had lost between 150,000 and 190,000 fighters. Ukraine claimed Russia has more than 300,000 losses.

But Russia is taking Ukrainian lives as well. One estimate says 200,000 of them have been killed or injured.

The mounting Ukrainian body count reportedly has Biden administration officials concerned.

According to Business Insider, the U.S. Defense Department is noticing battle fatigue developing among the Ukrainians. Recruitment is down, while Russia has three times as many people as Ukraine.

“Manpower is at the top of the administration’s concerns right now,” one anonymous source said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied on Nov. 5, that his country is in a stalemate with Russia. But Ukrainian gains in a summer counter-offensive were relatively small.

During a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen, Zelenskyy denied he’s under pressure to negotiate a peace agreement with Russia.

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“For us now to sit down with Russian and talk and give it something - this will not happen,” he said.

U.S. defense officials are willing to accept that for now.

“Any decisions about negotiations are up to Ukraine,” National Security Council Adrienne Watson said. “We are focused on continuing to stand strongly in support of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence against Russian aggression.”

But one U.S. official claimed the Biden administration is down to its last $5 billion in support for Ukraine.

A bill in Congress providing more support to Ukraine is in limbo, as House Speaker Mike Johnson divided an aid package so money for Israel would take top priority.