Russian President Vladimir Putin has apparently failed to capitalize on the success of Russian forces in the initial phase of the war, with the Ukrainians now liberating their territory, including the strategically important city of Kherson. ABC News foreign correspondent James Longman said Saturday that Ukraine has now regained 50 percent of its territory. In a Sunday update on Facebook, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia had lost about 10,000 soldiers in just over two weeks, with the total number now standing at 80,860. Since the last daily update, Ukrainian officials said another “650 people” had been killed. Soldiers from Ukraine take part in a training exercise organized by members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), in northeast England on November 9, 2022. Ukrainian officials have claimed that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed. Getty The publication added that 1,837 Russian artillery systems were captured or destroyed along with 278 planes and 261 helicopters in the past 24 hours. It comes after Ukrainian officials announced on October 29 that 70,000 Russians had been killed since the outbreak of war on February 24. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that Russia could reach 100,000 deaths during the war, but added that it would not change the Kremlin’s opinion or approach to the conflict. Russia rarely releases figures on victims and casualties, and recently said a few thousand died. Both her and Ukraine’s estimates have been disputed by war analysts and dismissed. Although Russian troop casualties have not been confirmed, Moscow has ordered forces to withdraw from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials urged caution and added that they are skeptical of Russia’s intentions to back down. Earlier this week Zelensky said: “Our emotions must be restrained. The enemy does not bring us gifts. Therefore, we move very carefully, without emotions, without unnecessary risk.” Kherson was the first major area to fall into Russian hands at the outbreak of war and was the most visible achievement of its campaign due to its strategic location and close proximity to the annexed Crimea. However, the retreat from Kherson this week has prompted Putin’s allies to hit back at the Russian military and the leader himself. Ultra-nationalist Alexander Dugin, known as “Putin’s mastermind”, on Saturday called the Russian president an autocrat with absolute power in the war as he accused him of “surrendering”. Dugin said the retreat undermines Russian ideology by failing to defend “Russian cities.” He then went a step further and suggested that Putin could be overthrown with a veiled warning shared on Telegram. Newsweek has reached out to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Kremlin for comment.
