Russia pushes back on report of heavy losses in Ukraine

Russia has denied a report that its forces experienced heavy losses in Ukraine, a rare direct denial of its struggles on the battlefield amid the ongoing conflict. 

A pro-war blog published a letter on Telegram on Sunday purportedly written by a Russian brigade that detailed how about 300 of the brigade’s soldiers had been killed, wounded or gone missing over a period of four days. The letter slammed commanders in charge of the offensive that led to the hundreds of casualties, blaming them for poor planning. 

The New York Times reported that the Russian defense ministry said in a statement that the brigade only experienced a small number of casualties and took “effective offensive action” in the Donetsk region. 

The letter requested that an independent commission separate from the defense ministry come to evaluate the strategy of the offensive. 

The independent Russian media outlet Verstka reported that a survivor of the offensive said the commanders forced soldiers to dig trenches with only three shovels per battalion and no provisions. Once shelling from Ukraine began, the commanders ran away and left the soldiers to fight for themselves, the survivor said.

Ukraine has mounted a major counteroffensive and retaken thousands of square kilometers of territory in the eastern and southern parts of the country over the past two months. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial call-up of 300,000 reservists to replenish depleted forces, but Russian military leaders have struggled to make additional gains in Ukraine in recent months.