The UK has pledged once again to stand by Ukraine’s side as long as Russia’s unprovoked aggression against its neighbouring country continues.
And the senior military advisor at Britain’s delegation to the OSCE, Nicholas Aucott, laid bare just how catastrophic the war has been for Vladimir Putin‘s country from both a military and economic point of view.
In a statement to the OSCE, Mr Aucott said: “The reality is that this war has been a military and political disaster for Russia.
“To date, more than half a million Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded during Russia’s war. The average daily number of Russian casualties (killed and wounded) in May was 1,200 per day.
“It is estimated that 70,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in the last 60 days alone.”
The military expert went on to skewer Putin’s ruinous decision to attack Ukraine by highlighting the high price being paid by Russians to fund the war.
He said: “The Russian people are being forced to pay the price for Russia’s President’s miscalculation – every Kinzhal missile costs $7million [£5.38m], as much as 130 Russian teachers’ annual salaries. With Defence now accounting for up to 30 per cent of Russia’s Federal government spending and 6 percent of its GDP, this war is taking its toll on Russia.”
In his statement, Mr Aucott went on to stress the deep ties between war-torn Ukraine and the UK, adding Britain has committed this year to sending its largest single package of equipment to Kyiv.
The unwavering support is due to the fact that, he added, as long as Ukrainian borders aren’t secure, “no one’s borders can be secure”.
More than two and a half years into the invasion, the conflict in Ukraine has turned into a war of attrition. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated the one major offensive launched by Russia this year, an attack on Kharkiv, had failed – a claim denied by Moscow.
Moreover, the war is spilling over the Russian border more and more often, with many areas in western Russia repeatedly under the attack of drones in recent months.
Most recently, Russia has been forced to lockdown more than a dozen villages near its border with Ukraine “where the operational situation is extremely difficult”, according to the governor of the Belgorod region, as the area is suffering Ukrainian shelling.