Over the past few months, the Russian army has been losing more than 40,000 troops in Ukraine every month, killed and seriously wounded. In October, preliminary estimates suggest this figure may have exceeded 50,000.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said this during a speech at the Atlantic Future Forum on 11 November.
He stressed that such losses point to Russia’s failure on the battlefield. By way of comparison, Rutte cited US losses over 14 years of the Vietnam War, which totalled 56,000.
"Putin is trying to break Ukraine’s will to fight by striking civilians. He is attacking Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones, seeking to destroy critical infrastructure ahead of winter,” the NATO Secretary General explained.
Rutte also said that Russia has stepped up its hostile campaign across Europe. According to him, Vladimir Putin is trying to drive European countries apart, destabilise their societies and weaken support for Ukraine.
To that end, Russia is resorting to arson attacks, drone incidents, cyberattacks and other malicious actions. At the same time, the NATO Secretary General stressed that these attempts are not delivering the results the Kremlin wants. He said that in response to every Russian hybrid attack, Alliance countries are increasing their support for Ukraine.
- Earlier, Mark Rutte expressed the view that Russia’s war against Ukraine is unlikely to end in victory for either side, and that the most likely scenario is a peace agreement involving some compromise. At the same time, he stressed that even after the fighting ends, Europe must remain vigilant about Russian aggression.