WORLD NEWS | US says 20,000 Russians have died in Ukraine war since December

WASHINGTON, May 1 (AP) WASHINGTON, May 1 (AP) — Russia has suffered an estimated 100,000 casualties, including 20,000, since December as Ukraine rebuffed a Russian military onslaught in eastern Ukraine, the White House said Monday.

The fiercest fighting in what has become a grinding war of attrition has taken place in eastern Donetsk, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of tenacious Ukrainian defenses.

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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. estimate was based on newly declassified U.S. intelligence. He did not elaborate on how the intelligence community arrived at the figure.

Troops from Russia’s Wagnerian mercenary group and others are fighting the Ukrainian army door-to-door in an attempt to gain control of the road known as the “Road of Life” – the last remaining road in the west is still in Ukrainian hands, making it Vital supplies and fresh troops. Both sides cited developments in recent days.

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General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the head of Ukraine’s ground forces, said Russia continued to “do its best” to capture the city but had so far been unsuccessful.

“In some parts of the city, the enemy was counterattacked by our forces and left some positions,” he said. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)