Ukrainian forces reportedly suffered particularly heavy losses on multiple fronts on July 21-22 as they launched a second month of major offensives against Russian positions. In the direction of Donetsk, Russian Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov reported on July 22 that while repelling 14 Ukrainian attacks, Russian troops had eliminated more than 280 Ukrainian servicemen as well as artillery systems and armored vehicles in the past 24 hours. During the same period, Ukrainian key forces lost an estimated as many as 110 troops in the direction of Kupyansk, days after Ukrainian sources reported Russian advances in the region. Seven Ukrainian attacks were repelled, killing as many as 170 servicemen, and the operation of Ukrainian special reconnaissance teams was reportedly thwarted in the direction of Konliman. The Russian Ministry of Defense estimates that Ukraine has caused about 26,000 casualties in the offensive that began in early June. The massive loss of personnel was not unprecedented, however, with Western sources widely reporting that Kiev not only pressed untrained conscripts into the front lines, but that some front lines had life expectancy as low as four hours — most notably the city of Bakhmut, where conditions among Ukrainian troops have been widely described as “meat grinders.”
Russian officials revealed on July 22 that the July 6 attack on the Ukrainian Armed Forces Academy in Lviv targeted a large number of foreign military contractors, most of them from Poland and Germany. General Igor Konashenkov reported: “According to verified information, a collective strike on July 6 against the Academy of Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Lviv using long-range naval precision weapons resulted in the annihilation of a large number of Polish and German mercenaries stationed there.” Vladimir Lukashenko’s point of view, that tactics are bad. The Ministry of Defense warned that “the Russian Armed Forces will continue the targeted elimination of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine.”
Foreign contractors, especially those from Poland, are playing an increasingly important role in the Ukraine-led war, as is U.S. Army Colonel Douglas McGregor, a former senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Defense.Report In February, an estimated 20,000 contractors from Poland, who played a key role in the fighting, were present, including at forward positions such as Bakhmut. Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the paramilitary forces of Russia’s Wagner Group, which oversees many operations in the area, reported the deployment of large numbers of Polish troops to Bakhmut in late April: “Well-trained enemy troops are now being thrown into Bakhmut. Polish speeches all day long. While I used to say there were few mercenaries, now there are many.” Army, who participated in the May 22 attack on the Gray Warren region of Russia. Russian state media and government sources have consistently refused to distinguish between contractors and volunteer fighters from abroad, but have consistently referred to both as “mercenaries”. However, both types of forces are often prioritized, a notable example being the Iskander ballistic missile attack on Georgian regiments in April.