Four days after Russia attacked Ukraine, the number of casualties has reportedly reached thousands. Although it was not possible to independently verify the figure, reports said Ukraine inflicted more casualties in less than a week than Russia suffered over eight years of engagements in Syria. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on Sunday said in a Facebook post that Russian forces have lost about 4,300 troops, 146 tanks, 27 aircraft and 26 helicopters.
From the Associated Press: “The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is aware of requests by Ukraine’s UN ambassador and others to repatriate the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in action in Ukraine but has no numbers. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya tweeted Saturday that Ukraine has appealed to the ICRC “to facilitate repatriation of thousands of bodies of Russian soldiers” killed during the invasion of Ukraine. An accompanying chart claimed 3,500 Russian troops have been killed. Kyslytsya tweeted that parents in Russia should have a chance “to bury them with dignity.” “Don’t let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin hide the scale of tragedy,” he urged.”
The United Nations on Saturday confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties in the fighting in Ukraine since Thursday—though the agency believed the real figures could be higher because many reports of casualties remain unconfirmed. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs relayed the count late Saturday from the UN human rights office, which has strict methodologies and verification procedures about the toll from conflict.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there is a serious risk that Putin will not stop at Ukraine. She said Putin, judging by his words, wants to restore Russia’s empire and remove western forces from all former Warsaw pact countries. It means once Putin captures Ukraine, Russia will be able to station forces—land, air and missile—in bases in western Ukraine as well as Belarus to continue his occupation.
The 30-nation Nato alliance earlier said it will not send forces to protect Ukraine as a non-Nato member. Ukraine is one of Nato’s “enhanced opportunity partners,” a status afforded non-member nations that have “made significant contributions to Nato-led operations and missions.” Nato says it aims to maintain and deepen cooperation with such partners. Other nations with this status are Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden.
Putin on Sunday told his top defense and military officials to put nuclear forces in a “special regime of combat duty.” This, he said, is in response to economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western nations in recent days for his invasion of Ukraine, as well as “aggressive statements regarding our country.” It was not immediately clear how Putin’s order will change the status of Russian nuclear forces, but pundits said a decision to arm Russian missiles would be taken as an escalatory move that could make the crisis even worse. Is Putin threatening to turn the Ukraine invasion into a broader nuclear war?
Putin sees Ukraine as an existential threat to Russia, believing that if it enters Nato, offensive weaponry will be placed closer to the Russian border. History shows two instances that could have guaranteed peace in Europe: The first one was in 1954 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics suggested that it joins Nato. This was rejected by the US and UK. The second one happened in 2000 after Putin became president of Russia. He asked Nato Secretary General George Robertson: “When are you going to invite us to join Nato?” Robertson replied: “Well, we don’t invite people to join Nato, they apply to join Nato.” Putin replied: “Well, we’re not standing in line with a lot of countries that don’t matter.”