Ukraine Eliminates 920 Russian Soldiers, Destroys 8 Tanks All In One Day

About 920 Russian military personnel were killed and 12 Russian armored vehicles, including eight tanks, were destroyed in Ukraine between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to data provided by the Ukrainian military.

Russia has suffered a total of 128,420 combat losses since it invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated in its most recent casualty report released Tuesday.

Russian losses within the same period also included 3,209 tanks and 6,382 armored fighting vehicles (AFV), among other pieces of military equipment.

In its casualty report from Monday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that Russia had lost 127,500 personnel, 3,201 tanks and 6,378 AFVs.

Russia's newly reported losses came amid claims from Ukrainian officials that Russian forces are preparing for a new major offensive.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the attack could start as soon as Feb. 24, exactly a year since Russia began its unprovoked assault on Ukraine, according to a report by the BBC.

Russia has amassed about 500,000 troops for the expected offensive, according to Reznikov, who also suggested that the potential attack could mark Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day on Feb. 23.

The poor state of Russian military equipment will force Russia's military command to amass forces and outnumber Ukrainian defenders in order to make gains, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence, said.

However, Russia will have to concentrate its efforts on seizing the partially occupied provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's east as it does not have sufficient forces to conduct an attack along the entire length of its 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line with Ukraine, according to military analyst and retired Ukrainian colonel Serhiy Hrabskyi.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine has made any major territorial advances in recent months, with the exception of the recent Russian seizure of Soledar in Donetsk.

Russian forces are still carrying out ground attacks in the nearby city of Bakhmut, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in the United States.

The fall of Bakhmut, which has been Russia's primary target since last summer, could disrupt Ukraine's supply lines and open a route for Russian forces to advance toward the key Ukrainian strongholds of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, a known ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the founder of the Wagner Group paramilitary organization, is allegedly interested in taking control of the settlement's salt and gypsum mines.