Among those killed, nearly half were believed to be soldiers from the private military company Wagner Group, which is heavily involved in the grinding fight for Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said Monday.
“Russia has exhausted its military stockpiles and its armed forces,” Kirby told reporters. “Just since December, we estimate that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, including over 20,000 killed in action. . . . It’s really stunning, these numbers.”
Kirby said the source of the new 100,000 figure is “based on some downgraded intelligence that we’ve been able to collect,” though he did not elaborate further.
He would not give the estimated number of Ukrainian casualties, deferring to Kyiv for that information.
“We’ve never talked about Ukrainian casualties in the war,” Kirby said. “I don’t suspect that we’re going to change that posture.”
Kirby attributed the high number of deaths among Wagner troops to a lack of “combat training, combat leadership, or any sense of organizational command and control,” noting that many of them were ex-prisoners released in order to fight in the war.
“The majority are ex-convicts, folks [Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin] went knocking around on doors in prison cells throughout Russia to throw human flesh at this fight,” he said.
He also shot down what he called “a ludicrous claim” from Prigozhin, who said Sunday that Wagner had only suffered 94 casualties.
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
Russia launched another wave of mass strikes at the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv overnight on Monday, but air defenses took down the cruise missiles and explosive drones, according to Ukraine. Military officials in Kyiv said in a Telegram post that air raid alarms lasted about three hours as Russian bomber planes fired missiles and drones targeting the city. Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Facebook that …
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate on Monday to permanently authorize a law allowing the president to implement punishing sanctions on Iran’s economy. The Solidifying Iran Sanction Act, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is intended to permanently extend the Iran …
SEATTLE (AP) — The U.S. Army identified on Saturday the three soldiers who were killed when two helicopters collided in Alaska while returning from a training mission. The helicopters were headed to Fort Wainwright from a mission in the Donnelly Training Area when they crashed at 1:39 p.m. Thursday, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Healy. The U.S. Army announced Friday that it has grounded aviation units for training …
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Brown and Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzmanwill testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth and Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConvillewill appear at a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing tomorrow at 10 a.m.
In Other News
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
FISA 702 searches of foreign nationals tick up, amid major drop in US citizen queries
The number of foreign nationals spied on by the U.S. through its warrantless surveillance program reached an all-time high last year, according to government statistics released Friday, even as the number of Americans swept up in such searches declined dramatically. The report, required annually, …
U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burnswill speak on U.S.-China relations at the Stimson Center at 8:30 a.m.
The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Associationwill hold its 2023 TechNetCyber conference, with Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, among other Biden administration officials at 9 a.m.
The Association of the U.S. Armywill hold a virtual discussion on “Recruiting with Success,” with Maj. Gen. Johnny Davis, commanding general, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, at 12 p.m.
Debra Tice, mother of journalist Austin Tice, who has been held in Syria since 2012 while reporting there, will hold a news conference at the National Press Club at 1 p.m.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavskywill speak at the Hudson Institute on “The Indo-Pacific, Ukraine, and Transatlantic Ties,” at 2:30 p.m.
A Senate Armed Services subpanel will hold a hearing on “The Current Readiness, Joint Force,” with testimony from defense officials at 2:30 p.m.
AEI will hold a talk on “Local Needs in an International War: A Conversation with Ukrainian Mayors,” at 4 p.m.
Another Senate Armed Services subcommittee will have a hearing on “Defense Department space activities in review, Defense Authorization Request for FY2024 and the Future Years Defense Program,” at 4:45 p.m.
What We’re Reading
News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
‘No joy’: Pentagon emails show National Guard preparing for mission hours before Third Precinct burned, (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson is seen on newly revealed video bashing the network’s streaming service, which he produced a bevy of content … Read more
The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear a case that could significantly scale back federal agencies’ authority, with major implications … Read more
