Russia Lost 1,750 Soldiers Over The Weekend In Ukraine; 28 Armored Vehicles Destroyed: Intel

Russia lost 1,750 military personnel and 28 armored vehicles, including nine tanks, over the weekend in Ukraine, according to data provided by the Ukrainian military.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces announced 930 Russian army casualties in its most recent casualty report released Sunday.

The latest batch of claimed Russian losses included five tanks and nine armored fighting vehicles (AFV).

In its Saturday casualty report, the Ukrainian military announced that Russia lost 820 soldiers, four tanks and 10 AFVs.

Russia has lost a total of 153,120 personnel in its invasion of Ukraine since the conflict began more than a year ago, the latest Ukrainian figures showed.

Total Russian losses included 3,414 tanks and 6,692 AFVs, among other pieces of military equipment.

The claimed losses came amid reports that Russia's assaults on the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut have intensified.

Bakhmut, which is located in Ukraine's partially occupied Donetsk province to the east, has been Russia's primary target since last summer.

Ukraine has vowed to defend Bakhmut, described by the Ukrainian military as a "fortress," but Russian forces have increased pressure on the settlement's defenders.

"[T]he enemy does not stop trying to surround the city," Ukraine's military staff said in another report published Sunday.

Ukrainian forces reportedly repelled "more than 130 enemy attacks" in the directions of Bakhmut and the nearby settlements of Avdiivka, Kupiansk and Lyman on Saturday alone.

However, the pressure on Bakhmut has prompted the city's residents to flee on foot with help from troops who, according to Western analysts, may be preparing to withdraw as well, the Associated Press reported.

Bakhmut's capture would give Russia a battlefield achievement after months of setbacks, according to the outlet. It could also disrupt Ukraine's supply lines and allow Russian forces to advance on other Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk.

On the other hand, the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group, whose fighters have been leading assaults on Bakhmut over recent months, fears the front line would collapse should a retreat be ordered, according to a report by Reuters.

"If Wagner retreats from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse. The situation will not be sweet for all military formations protecting Russian interests," Russian billionaire Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group's founder and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a video published over the weekend.

Ukraine has started to reinforce the Bakhmut area with elite units, and two key bridges in the city have also been destroyed, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said in a Friday intelligence briefing.

As many as 10 Ukrainian brigades, or around 30,000 soldiers, may have been committed around Bakhmut, Poland-based independent military consultancy Rochan Consulting estimated, The Financial Times reported in early January.