Vladimir Putin is in it to win it, but it sure doesn’t seem like he’s winning anything with his war in Ukraine. The carnage is a rough subject to discuss, obviously, especially when headlines focus upon how Russia’s Viagra supply has gone limp, and the Russian president might also be missing out on his beloved Botox. However, one cannot ignore the reality of the situation, which is that Putin has been recruiting and drafting his citizens (and convicted felons) by the hundreds of thousands. They’re largely untrained and shooting each other while apparently getting blackout drunk in Ukraine (can you blame them?), and Russia hasn’t even provided adequate first-aid supplies to treat battle wounds.
The situation is a grim one, a full year into Putin’s quest to make Ukrainian President Zelensky kiss the ring of power. And there’s no way to sugar coat these numbers as reported by the UK’s Evening Standard newspaper. The total number of Russian deaths in Ukraine has reached 60,000, and the casualty number has reached a whopping 175,000-200,000. According to the publication, that ratio can be directly attributed to Putin’s lack of prioritizing any semblance of medical care for troops:
They stressed that the death rate among Putin’s troops was a “high ratio” compared to the number wounded which they blamed on “extremely rudimentary medical provision across much of the force”.
The Russian casualty rate had “increased significantly” since Putin order his partial-mobilisation of 300,000 last autumn to rebuild his armed forces in Ukraine, they added.
Granted, this report was met with an immediate Kremlin denial. In addition, Russia is deflecting by somehow blaming the U.S. for how this war has escalated. According to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova (via Reuters), “Now the American warmongers have gone even further: They incite the Kyiv regime to further escalate the war.” The reasoning behind this is that Russia considers only “crazy people” to fight back against Russia and dare to try and defeat Putin. And the delusional hits keep coming.
(Via Evening Standard & Reuters)