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Ukraine Invasion Day 167: Pentagon estimates Russian losses at 80 thousand killed and wounded [1]
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Date: 2022-08-08
Disinformation continues and the resolution of the war seems ever far away. The Pentagon figures have a Ukrainian spin.
NEW: The Pentagon believes that as many as 80,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, another sign that the death toll could be rising as the conflict nears the six month mark.
https://t.co/nc5zUbAKED
According to Fedorov, around 100 Russian soldiers were killed and a variety of military equipment was destroyed.
Russian forces continued focusing efforts on maintaining their current positions and preventing Ukrainian advances along the Southern Axis on August 8.[24] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces continued shelling civilian and military infrastructure using tank, tube, and rocket artillery and intensified aerial reconnaissance using UAVs along the entire line of contact.[25] Russian forces also conducted airstrikes on Lozove and Andriivka, both on the eastern bank of the Inhulets River, and Olhyne, located along the northern part of the T2207 highway.[26] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces also conducted airstrikes in Prechistivka, Volodymyrivka, Novomykhailivka, and Poltavka.[27]
Russian forces continued to target settlements in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and Odesa oblasts with artillery and missiles. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces launched two Kh-59 cruise missiles at Kamianske and continued shelling Nikopol, Zelendolsk, Marhanets, and Velika Kostromka, Dniprotrovsk Oblast.[28] Russian forces also continued shelling settlements on the outskirts of Mykolaiv City but did not launch any strikes directly on Mykolaiv City.[29] Odesa officials reported that Ukrainian air defense forces shot down four Russian Kalibr missiles fired from the Black Sea.[30]
Ukrainian forces continued targeting Russian military positions and ammunition depots in Zaporizhia and Kherson oblasts. Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported that Ukrainian high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) strikes destroyed a “significant amount of” Russian military equipment and manpower concentrations in industrial districts throughout Melitopol at night on August 7-8.[31] Fedorov also noted that Russian forces transferred a significant part of their air defense systems from Melitopol to Kherson during the week of July 31-August 7.[32] Ukrainian officials confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the Antonivsky and Kakhovka bridges at night on August 7-8.[33] Russian Deputy Head of the Russian Occupation Administration in Kherson Oblast Kirill Stremousov stated that Russian officials will postpone reopening the Antonivskyi bridge, scheduled for August 10, due to the damage to construction equipment near the bridge.[34] Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Spokesperson Vladislav Nazarov reported that Ukrainian airstrikes hit two Russian strongholds in the Kherson and Berislav districts and that Ukrainian indirect fire destroyed a Russian ammunition depot in Charivne, approximately 65 km northeast of Kherson City on August 7.[35]
www.understandingwar.org/...
Subordinate Main Effort—Southern Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk Oblasts (Russian objective: Encircle Ukrainian forces in eastern Ukraine and capture the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas)
Russian forces did not conduct any confirmed advances northwest of Izyum on August 8. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces conducted an airstrike on Zalyman, approximately 30 km northwest of Izyum, and shelled settlements north of Izyum, including Husarivka and Asiivka.[10]
Russian forces conducted a limited ground attack northwest of Slovyansk on August 8. The Ukrainian General staff reported that Russian forces conducted a failed offensive to improve their positions near Bohorodychne.[11] Russian forces continued to shell settlements between Izyum and Slovyansk along the Kharkiv-Donetsk Oblast border and additionally conducted an artillery strike directly on Slovyansk.[12] Russian journalist and milblogger Evgeniy Poddubniy claimed on August 7 that Ukrainian forces are continually forming new brigades in Kharkiv Oblast despite continuous Russian strikes and projected that this force generation shows that Ukrainian forces can simultaneously conduct advances in the Kherson direction and in Kharkiv Oblast.[13]
Russian forces conducted ground assaults to the east of Siversk on August 8. The Ukrainian General Staff stated that Russian forces attempted failed offensives in the direction of Verkhnokamyanskye (5 km east of Siversk) and four other unnamed settlements but retreated with losses.[14] Luhansk Oblast Head Serhiy Haidai also reported that Ukrainian forces neutralized Russian reconnaissance groups near unspecified settlements.[15] Russian forces continued to shell Siversk and nearby settlements with tank, tube, and rocket artillery and targeted neighboring villages, Hryhorivka and Ivano-Darivka, with airstrikes.[16]
www.understandingwar.org/...
Supporting Effort #1—Kharkiv City (Russian objective: Defend ground lines of communication (GLOCs) to Izyum and prevent Ukrainian forces from reaching the Russian border)
Russian forces did not conduct any confirmed ground attacks northeast of Kharkiv City and focused on maintaining their current lines on August 8.[21] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces conducted airstrikes and UAV reconnaissance northeast of Kharkiv City.[22] Russian forces also struck residential areas near central Kharkiv City with multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and continued to strike Kharkiv City and surrounding settlements with S-300 missiles, mortars, tanks, and tank, tube, and rocket artillery.[23]
www.understandingwar.org/...
x "Although initially a ceasefire would freeze Ukraine’s current territorial losses, that would be preferable to the war continuing indefinitely."
https://t.co/zUdG5Sdyfg — Common Dreams (@commondreams) August 8, 2022
x Zelenskiy Says Ukraine Has Suffered 'Serious Losses' After Russian Air Strikes Pound Dozens Of Targets
https://t.co/1RClm6yLOW — @CLSpuukiiy (@CLSpuukiiy) August 9, 2022
Western and Ukrainian outlets circulated a report, likely false, of a Russian general allegedly threatening to destroy Europe’s largest nuclear facility, the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), if Russia could not hold the plant. Multiple news outlets shared a screenshot from the Russian social networking site Vkontakte that claimed to cite the Russian head of the Zaporizhia occupation garrison, Major General Valery Vasilev, stating that Russia had mined the Zaporizhzhia NPP and that the plant would be “either Russian land or a scorched desert.”[1] The screenshot appeared to be a news report posted in a Vkontakte group run by Russian outlet Lenta Novosti Zaporizhia. The outlet itself claimed that the screenshot was from a faked group and denied writing the report.[2] The Russian Ministry of Defense condemned the report and screenshot as a “fake” and claimed that Vasilev was in Uzbekistan at the time he was purported to have made the statement to forces at Zaporizhzhia.[3] Regardless of the origin (or existence) of the original post, the reporting is unreliable. It is indirect and does not claim to cite an official statement or a statement made on any official Russian news or government website.
This likely misreporting distracts from the very real risks of Russia’s militarization of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, which may include mining the plant and almost certainly includes the unsafe storage of military armaments near nuclear reactors and nuclear waste storage facilities.[4] Bellingcat geolocated a drone video of the Zaporizhia NPP that was shared by Russian opposition outlet The Insider on August 5. The video depicts Russian military vehicles moving in and around the plant, including military trucks and armored vehicles moving around and into the building containing the first of the plant’s six nuclear reactors.[5] Russian forces have also dug trenches in and around the plant and may have established firing positions.[6] Russian officials claim that Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the plant, while Ukrainian officials claim that Russian forces are attacking Ukrainian positions from within the plant, preventing Ukrainian return fire and essentially using the plant as a nuclear shield.[7] Russian forces have repeatedly shelled the nearby Ukrainian-controlled town of Nikopol, likely from positions in or around the NPP, since July.[8]
ISW continues to assess that Russian forces are likely leveraging the threat of nuclear disaster to degrade Western will to provide military support to a Ukrainian counteroffensive.[9]
www.understandingwar.org/...
x URGENT: Russian troops have wired energy units of Zaporizhia nuclear power plant with explosives. Major General Vasilyev, commander of the garrison stationed at the plant, announced readiness to blow up the plant, leading to a nuclear catastrophe. 1/3 — Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) August 8, 2022
x Previously, rep of @DI_Ukraine Andrii Yusov said they had confirmed information about Russian troops installing explosives in ZNPP energy units. 3/3 — Stratcom Centre UA (@StratcomCentre) August 8, 2022
x It's actually the opposite. Russia is holding the Europe hostage by threatening to blow up Europe's largest nuclear power plant. — KT "Special Intelligence Operation" (@KremlinTrolls) August 8, 2022
x REVOLVING DOOR: Since the start of Russia's ‘Special Military Operation’ in February, Putin has hired, and fired, six general officers in command of Ukraine operations. At least two of these officers are now in prison. The effect on operations is telling. pic.twitter.com/jPWXp3qur8 — Chuck Pfarrer (@ChuckPfarrer) August 8, 2022
x White House sending key air defense system ammo to Ukraine | @TaraCopp
https://t.co/pLxizz9cl7 pic.twitter.com/9J7v5NeAGd — Defense One (@DefenseOne) August 8, 2022
x Ukraine's HIMARS system has an actual range of 100km
No less than three Russian targets have been hit at this range. — KT "Special Intelligence Operation" (@KremlinTrolls) August 8, 2022
x #OSINT
The SA-15 GAUNTLET ('Tor') short range air defense system lashed to the helipad of a #Russian Navy Pr.22160 patrol ship 'Dmitry Rogachev' as it patrols off Sevastopol, Black Sea,... appears to be the M1 version.
In some places said to be a M2KM version, seems incorrect pic.twitter.com/j5EZd0WGqk — H I Sutton (@CovertShores) August 8, 2022
x ⚡️ Finnish PM: 'It’s unfair that Russians can travel to EU despite brutal war in Ukraine.'
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she believes issuing tourist visas to Russians should be restricted following the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 8, 2022
x “Practically, this means that, if Russia does block energy supplies to Germany, there will be a substantial fall in 🇩🇪 GDP. & in general, if a Neoclassical economist predicts something, expect the opposite.”
The Deadly Wisdom of Economics - @ProfSteveKeen
https://t.co/uu38k40qoG — Phil 🆓🌍🧩🎲 (@Phil_Free_) August 8, 2022
[END]
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