Russia sacrifices troops as cannon fodder at frontline, losing one soldier every 2.5 square meters – OSCE

The Russian troops at the front continue to employ tactics of using "cannon fodder." Meanwhile, the enemy is losing one soldier for every 2.5 square meters.

The deputy head of the Ukrainian mission to the OSCE in Vienna, Nataliia Kostenko, stated that.

"The Russian military leadership relies heavily on 'cannon fodder' tactics, demonstrating that it can only achieve progress at a cost that any other country would find unacceptable. It is estimated that every 2.5 square meters of Russian advance in Ukraine cost the Russian occupiers the life of one soldier," she said.

She says that these numbers prove Russia's efforts to take over Vuhledar.

"Russian forces managed to establish control over this city only after hundreds of daily attempts to break through Ukrainian defenses. Although Russian propaganda has already declared it a strategic victory, the reality is that even with overwhelming numbers of human power, artillery, and air force, it took two years for Russian forces to take control of this city, which they completely destroyed," Kostenko said.

In turn, the Defense Forces of Ukraine "continue to conduct defensive operations to protect the sovereign territory of our state from Russian invaders and protect the civilian population from the horrors that the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory leads to."

"For the past week, more than 1,000 combat clashes took place at the front, and the situation along the entire front line remains extremely tense and dynamic. The Ukrainian military continues to identify and destroy the military headquarters of the Russian occupying forces, logistics and communication routes, and ammunition depots. In particular, last week, Ukraine's armed forces successfully destroyed the command posts of the 35th and 27th Motorized Rifle Brigades, as well as the command post of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation," the deputy head of the Ukrainian mission to the OSCE said.

For reference:

According to the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces, last day, October 10, the Russian invaders pressed most actively in the direction of Lyman. In total, 169 combat clashes took place on the front line.

One important detail to mention is that, according to the General Staff of Ukraine, the Russian army suffered a loss of 1,140 servicemen in the past day.

According to a report from British intelligence, the Russian Federation experienced unprecedented losses in Ukraine in September of this year. On average, 1,271 Russian troops were killed or injured per day.

In addition, experts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) state that the Russian military command's willingness to achieve limited tactical gains in exchange for significant losses of armored vehicles will become more expensive due to limited stocks of Soviet-era weapons and equipment.

It should be noted that Moscow plans to continue to replenish the ranks of the occupiers. According to British intelligence, it was predicted that in 2024, the Russian authorities, in order to compensate for significant losses in the war against Ukraine, want to attract about 400 thousand contract service members to their army.

Putin said that by the end of the year, he will recruit half a million Russians for the war against Ukraine: 617 thousand are currently fighting.