As losses triple, Kiev presses for another support package

As losses on the battlefield triple, Kiev has been trying to create an impression the frontline is firm and pressing for another $60 billion support package, military analyst Igor Korotchenko has said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army’s losses this year had totaled 71,000 men and 11,000 pieces of military hardware, which is three times the amount lost in the same period last year.

"Number one reason for such losses, of course, is this: when at the beginning of the year it was being decided whether another $60-billion US tranche should be transferred to Ukraine, it was extremely important for Zelensky to demonstrate the stability of his defenses," says Korotchenko, the editor-in-chief of National Defense magazine.

He added that this also explains why the fighting around Avdeyevka continued for so long. Korotchenko noted that Kiev "madly and recklessly sends more and more forces for 'meat assaults.' It is due to such frontal attacks that the enemy has heavy losses."

Korotchenko also pointed to the personal characteristic features of the new Ukrainian army’s commander-in-chief, Alexander Syrsky, who replaced Valery Zaluzhny. Syrsky, unlike Zaluzhny, is more obedient, says Korotchenko, while Zaluzhny was independent and tried to pursue his own policy. Syrsky, Korotchenko believes, does not care about losses, his aim being "to fulfill Kiev's political directives."