A ritual worker picks up the body of a killed Russian soldier before loading them to a refrigerated rail car, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, at a compound of a morgue in Kharkiv, Ukraine May 22, 2022.
A ritual worker picks up the body of a killed Russian soldier before loading them to a refrigerated rail car, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, at a compound of a morgue in Kharkiv, Ukraine May 22, 2022. Reuters / STRINGER

KEY POINTS

  • The constant burning of dead Russian soldiers has led civilians to lose access of cremations services
  • Ukraine says 139,770 Russian soldiers have died in the war since February 2022
  • Russia has also reportedly lost up to 50% of the key tanks it uses in combat

The Russian army is continuously burning the bodies of its dead soldiers as part of an effort to cover up its losses in the war in Ukraine, according to an intelligence report.

The bodies are being cremated from day to night at the Krasna Zorka settlement in the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula, per a report posted on Facebook by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) on Wednesday. The intelligence report also noted that civilians in the region are being refused access to cremation services.

"The enemy continues to suffer losses. In particular, Russian occupation forces were reported burning dead bodies of the fallen soldiers in the Krasna Zorka settlement (Simferopol district, temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea) to hide the number of casualties," the UAF General Staff wrote.

"Recent reports prove the constant presence of military vehicles numbering up to 10 units near the local crematorium. The occupiers use these trucks to bring dead Russian servicemen and mercenaries. Cremation is carried out 24/7. Cremation services are not provided to civilians," the report read.

🇬🇧 АНГЛІЙСЬКА ВЕРСІЯ Situation update as of 6.00 a.m., 15th February, 2023Glory to Ukraine!Day 357 of the full-scale russian military aggression has begun.During the day, the enemy carried...

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year. Since then, Moscow's death toll has reached 139,770, including 690 soldiers who were killed over the past day, according to estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

In addition to its losses among military personnel, the Russian army is estimated to have lost nearly 40% of its prewar fleet of tanks within the first nine months of the war and as much as 50% for some of the key tanks it uses in combat, including the T-72B3 and T-72B3M, as per a count by the specialist thinktank the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).

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However, despite notable battlefield losses, Russia retains an estimated 5,000 old tanks in long-term storage. The think tank also noted that Moscow has reached into its cold war-era stocks to make up for its losses and maintain its tank fleet.

At least 97% of Russia's army is believed to have been deployed to the war in Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told BBC News. It is unclear when, if ever, the remaining 3% would join the conflict soon.

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Russian military troops take part in a military drill on Sernovodsky polygon close to the Chechnya border, some 260 km from south Russian city of Stavropol, on March 19, 2015. SERGEY VENYAVSKY/AFP via Getty Images
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