An expert has warned that Vladimir Putin will have to sacrifice a further one million men in order to capture all of the Donbas region in Ukraine.
Professor Michael Clarke said that Russia has already sacrificed more than a million casualties and many thousands are being killed or severely wounded with life changing injuries.
Putin’s war started on 24 February 2022 and in almost four years Russia only occupies 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
Russian is sustaining heavy losses in the city of Pokrovsk and it is estimated that between 700 and 800 are either being killed or wounded every day, this is just in that region.
Prof Clarke told Sky News, “If the Russians continue this grinding offensive and if they are prepared to take another half a million or a million casualties by, let’s say, September next year then they probably get the Donbas.
That’s how I would assess where the war is at the moment. They are already at over a million now.
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“By casualties, we should say that means dead and wounded – and by wounded, we mean life-changing injuries, injuries that take you away from the battlefield – not wounds that mean you have to go to hospital then back to the battlefield in a month.
“A lot of wounds are like that, but these are wounds that take you off the table, so to speak, as a fighter.
The casualties are at significantly over a million now for Russia and about, we think 300,000-400,000 for Ukraine.
He continued, “The war is at a stalemate in one respect and dynamic in another. The Ukrainians are doing well in the Black Sea, they are doing quite well economically, and they can probably get through this winter.
“It is going to be really tough for them but they have more independent generating capacity – literally, lots of generators. They are linking themselves into the west European energy grid relatively successfully, so they will probably be able to get through.”
“We are also heading into winter,” he continued. “In general, winter favours defence over attack. If you are on the defensive, you are dug in wherever you are and you don’t have to move, you just have to hold your ground.
“If you are on the attack, you have to move. You are moving forward, you are establishing new positions, so the ground is harder to work on and dig in.
