With the sudden onset of winter in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has drawn the population’s attention to the particularly difficult situation of the soldiers at the front. Meanwhile, the General Staff in Kiev reported new heavy fighting, especially in the east of the country. At the same time, the generals spoke of high losses suffered by the Russian attackers.
Instead of the usual reports about the situation on the fronts, the snowstorm in the south and east of the country forced the Ukrainian head of state to turn to the unusual topic of weather in his evening video address. “Now, when things are so difficult, when the conditions are so difficult, we should all be especially grateful to those who maintain the defense of our country,” Zelensky said on Sunday evening. He particularly mentioned the soldiers “in the positions, on posts and in mobile fire squads.” They are all deployed in winter conditions to “protect Ukraine, the life of our state and our independence.”
A heavy snowstorm hit the entire Black Sea coast of Ukraine on Sunday and caused significant problems in many places. In addition to the power supply in some areas, road traffic also collapsed, while central parts of the country initially had to contend with cold and sleet. The snowstorm also paralyzed traffic and public life on the Crimean peninsula, which was occupied by Russia and annexed in violation of international law.
In the winter of the previous year, the Russian military tried to put pressure on the Ukrainian population with air strikes against the country’s energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian government is expecting a similar scenario this winter.
According to Ukrainian reports, the Russian armed forces suffered heavy losses in the various combat zones of Ukraine last week. “6,260 occupiers and 672 units of weapons and military technology were destroyed,” the Unian agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Pavlyuk as saying on Sunday. The weapon systems destroyed included 78 tanks, 113 armored personnel carriers and 130 artillery systems. The information could not be independently verified.
In the daily updated list of Russian losses in Ukraine since the start of the war, the Ukrainian General Staff on Sunday listed 324,830 soldiers who were either killed or wounded. The number of Russian Armed Forces tanks destroyed so far was given as 5,513. The Ukrainian armed forces also claim to have shot down 5,900 drones in response to Russian air attacks. This information cannot be verified either.
Neither Kiev nor Moscow publish the actual losses of their armed forces. Last summer, US experts estimated Russian losses at around 120,000 dead and 180,000 wounded; on the Ukrainian side, 70,000 soldiers were said to have been killed and around 120,000 wounded.
The Ukrainian military leadership reported on Sunday of a series of Russian attacks, especially in the east of the country. Five Russian attacks were repelled around Avdiivka. Strong Russian artillery attacks were reported from the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. The reports could not be independently verified.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian military warned of the danger of a new capture of the industrial city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region in view of the ongoing Russian offensive in the east of the country. “The Russian occupiers have not given up their intention to attack the city of Kupyansk, they want to occupy it again,” said Ukrainian army spokesman Volodymyr Fityo.
New fighting is expected in the east of Ukraine around Avdiivka and in the south of the country around the Ukrainian bridgeheads on the Dnipro near Kherson.
