Russia lost more soldiers in the Pokrovsk sector in Ukraine during the month of January than its total losses in the Second Chechen War, Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces, said during a television broadcast on Feb. 6.
The embattled city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast is among the most hotly contested areas of the front. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi previously claimed that 7,000 Russian soldiers were killed near Pokrovsk in January alone.
Trehubov reiterated these numbers in his report, comparing the casualties to Russia's 10-year military campaign against Chechnya.
"The Second Chechen War for the Russians for the entire period — 6,000 dead," he said.
"That is, under Pokrovsk alone in January the Russians have more dead than in the entire Second Chechen War."
Russia launched the Second Chechen War in August 1999, marking its second and ultimately successful attempt to suppress Chechen rebels in the North Caucasus republic. International human rights groups condemned the Russian military for purposely targeting civilians and committing war crimes throughout the decade-long conflict.
The total losses incurred by Russian forces in the Second Chechen War are difficult to verify, though official government figures claim the number is around 6,000.
Moscow is now seeing staggering losses in its ongoing assault against eastern Ukraine, with some reports indicating that over 1,000 soldiers are killed or wounded per day. Russian forces continue to sacrifice high numbers of personnel for limited territorial gains — a grim tactic that can push back significantly outnumbered Ukrainian troops.
The Ukrainian military, which has published daily estimates of Russian losses since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, has reported that 845,310 personnel have been killed or wounded since the start of the all-out war.
According to a report from the monitoring group DeepState in late January, Russian forces have been concentrating nearly half of their attacks in the Pokrovsk direction.
Trehubov said that Russia launched 24 assaults against Pokrovsk over the past day, but that Ukraine continues to hold the city.
Dominic Culverwell
