Ukraine Army Kills 1,500 Russian Soldiers In Two Days; 75 Armored Vehicles Destroyed

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have killed at least 1,500 Russian soldiers in the war over the weekend, bringing Moscow's military death toll to over 71,000 since February, according to Kyiv's Ministry of Defense.

The Ukrainian army successfully eliminated 550 Russian soldiers on Saturday, Oct. 29, and another 950 Russian military personnel on Sunday, Oct. 30. Moscow's army suffered the biggest losses in the Donetsk and Lyman directions.

The Russian army has now lost a total of 71,200 soldiers since the war began on February 24, per estimates from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

In addition to the deaths, the Russian army also lost a total of 75 armored combat vehicles, 32 tanks, 25 artillery vehicles and 32 fuel tanks in the two days.

The deaths come as Ukraine continues to mount a fierce counteroffensive with the aim of retaking territories occupied by the Russian army. Over the last several weeks, Kyiv's forces have made significant gains, recovering wide swaths of occupied territories in the east and northeast.

The Ukrainian army is now preparing to fight against the Russian military for control over the strategically important southern city of Kherson. Moscow-appointed authorities and tens of thousands of residents have been evacuated, said Kherson Oblast's Kremlin-installed governor Vladimir Saldo, according to Euro News.

Russia has also deployed an additional 1,000 troops to Kherson, most of whom were drawn up from the recent partial mobilization. The soldiers will be resettled in the homes of Kherson residents who fled amid the ongoing conflict.

"The command of the Russian occupying forces, in order to avoid panic among the personnel, is trying by all means to hide the real losses of servicemen... There is a strengthening of the enemy group on the right bank of the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region with mobilized servicemen numbering up to 1,000 people. They will be resettled in the homes of local residents who have left these territories," the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Friday, as translated via Google Translate.

Russian forces captured Kherson Oblast during the first days of the war. Kherson controls the only land route to the annexed Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnipro River bisecting Ukraine.