Western estimates are somewhat lower, at around 1,000 per day. In total, Putin’s supporters have lost over 620,000 people. Of these, about 120,000-140,000 are those killed in battle. However, this does not make a big impression on the country. Mediazona journalists have identified 66,471 names of the victims by the end of August. A few small protests in front of government buildings are quickly dispersed by the police. There is no point in looking for official data on the losses themselves, which is understandable. It is also understandable to mention the losses of the Ukrainians. According to the Kremlin, the Ukrainians have lost 741,000 people (the figures include both dead and wounded). Of these, this week alone, the Ukrainians – according to the Kremlin – have lost almost 17,000 people.
In both cases, the figures are exaggerated. While Russian losses are indeed lower by at least 30 percent, Ukrainian losses are lower by more than half. However, this does not change the fact that Ukrainian officials, in private conversations, claim that without another major wave of mobilization and increased supplies of weapons systems, especially ammunition for barreled artillery and long-range missiles, the situation will not improve.
Attack on Poltava
During a devastating attack on the morning of September 5, the Russians hit the buildings of the Marshal Moskalenko Higher Command School of Communications Forces in Poltava with an Iskander-M missile. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that it was one of the most tragic airstrikes. At least 50 people were killed and more than 270 soldiers were injured in the attack. Russian media reports that “there are already 760 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in the Poltava morgue.” Upon learning of the scale of the attack, the commander of the Akhmat regiment, General Apti Alaudinov, said that “the Russian Federation has already won a special military operation in Ukraine.”
The leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, has a slightly different opinion. During the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, he said that although they had not yet won, the Russian army had “stabilized the situation” in the Kursk region and had begun to “gradually push” the Ukrainian Armed Forces out of Russian territory. He stated that “large and well-prepared units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” were involved in the attack on the Kursk Oblast, which is why in the Donbass “the enemy has weakened in important directions.”
He said that thanks to the Ukrainians launching an attack near Kursk a month ago, the Russians had not made similarly large territorial gains. He said the army was now gaining “many square kilometers of land.”
To confirm these words, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that after intense fighting, “the village of Skukhnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic was liberated by the forces of the Central Group.” This is the second city captured by the Russians in the last month.
Putin in Mongolia
Before President Putin arrived in Vladivostok, he visited Mongolia on a two-day visit to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the victory of Soviet and Mongolian troops in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. Ukraine reacted harshly to the visit, accusing Mongolia of joint responsibility for Putin’s war crimes after the country’s authorities failed to detain him at the airport on the basis of a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Putin has been accused of illegally deporting Ukrainian children after Russian troops entered Ukraine. According to Ukrainian data, almost 20,000 children were exported to Russia. About 500 were reportedly adopted by Russian families.
A small protest was held in connection with Putin’s visit to Ulaanbaatar, during which protesters held a banner demanding: “Get out of here, war criminal!” The protest did not last long. The protesters were quickly arrested.
Tight security measures prevented further protests, and Putin did not have the chance to see more banners. Instead, protesters, surrounded by numerous police officers, gathered at the Monument to the Politically Repressed, erected to commemorate the victims of the Soviet-backed communist regime in Mongolia. The authorities had no reservations about welcoming Putin.
Mongolian President Uchnaagijn Chürelsüch said he “welcomed President Putin’s visit,” calling it proof of Mongolia’s “growing reputation and strengthening its status in the international arena.” Mongolian authorities, responding to international pressure, said they would not arrest Putin despite ratifying the Treaty of Rome because “Mongolia is in a state of energy dependence.”
The announcement was made by a representative of the Mongolian government in an interview with Politico, emphasizing that “Mongolia imports 95% of its petroleum products and more than 20% of its electricity from its neighbor.” The situation shows that, at least in the Far East, the Kremlin can still resort to economic blackmail, thus maintaining a network of allies.
