155,500 Russian Soldiers Have Died In Ukraine, 700 In Last 24 Hours: UAF

Around 700 Russian personnel were eliminated in Ukraine within a day this week, pushing Russia's total number of casualties in its invasion beyond 155,500, according to data provided by the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF).

A total of 155,530 Russian casualties have been recorded since Russia began its unprovoked assault more than a year ago, the UAF's General Staff claimed in a Wednesday casualty report.

In a report from the previous day, the Ukrainian military stated that Russia had lost 154,830 personnel in the war up to that point.

Total Russian losses in the conflict also included 3,436 tanks, 6,723 armored fighting vehicles (AFV) and 2,464 artillery systems, the latest figures from the UAF showed.

Between 20,000 and 30,000 Russian soldiers have been either killed or wounded in the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province alone, according to Western officials.

Russian billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group paramilitary organization that has been leading assaults on Bakhmut, claimed Wednesday that Russian forces captured the entirety of the city's eastern portion.

Prigozhin's claims were consistent with available visual evidence, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in the United States.

Russian forces, who occupied at least 50% of Bakhmut as of Wednesday, will likely intensify attacks on the city's northwestern and southwestern areas, the organization said in a Wednesday statement.

However, they would likely be unable to rapidly exploit a breakthrough beyond Bakhmut should the city fall, according to the ISW.

"[T]he Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine will shortly culminate if Russian forces capture Bakhmut, as the Russian military does not have the combat power or reinforcements necessary to exploit a breakthrough near Bakhmut," the think tank claimed.

While Bakhmut has been able to hold out ever since it became Russia's primary target last summer, the Ukrainian defense of the city "continues to degrade forces on both sides," the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday.

An unnamed military official with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), who claimed that Russia was losing five troops for every Ukrainian soldier killed in Bakhmut, also noted that Ukraine was suffering "significant losses."

Despite its reported losses, Ukraine has doubled down on its defense of Bakhmut, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stating that the fall of the city would provide Russian forces an "open road" to neighboring settlements such as Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.