As Ukraine Loses Troops, How Long Will It Continue to Fight? –

Zhytomyr, Ukraine (AP) – Once the funeral of a veteran colonel killed in a Russian bombing was over, cemetery workers prepared the next hole. Inevitably, given the speed of death of Ukrainian troops in the front lines, an empty grave would not remain that long.

Colonel Alexander Makhachek left a widow Elena and their daughters Olena and Miroslava-Oleksandra. In the first 100 days of the war, his grave was excavated on the 40th in the Zhytomyr military cemetery, 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of the capital Kiev.

He was killed on May 30 in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, where the fighting was taking place. There, in a statement about the burial of the newly excavated grave of Vyacheslav Dvornitsky, it was said that he died on May 27. Other graves also show soldiers killed in a few days: 10, 9, 7 and 5 May. And it was just a cemetery, in one of the cities, towns and villages of Ukraine, where the soldiers were buried.

Among those who paid their respects to the 49-year-old Makhachek at his funeral on Friday was General Viktor Muzhenko, chief of staff of Ukraine’s armed forces until 2019. He warned that the losses could worsen.

“It was one of the critical moments of the war, but it wasn’t the climax,” Muzhenko told The Associated Press. “This is the most important conflict in Europe since World War II. It explains why the losses are so great. To reduce casualties, Ukraine now needs powerful weapons that match or exceed Russia’s weapons. This is will allow Ukraine to respond in a similar way.

Russia’s concentration of artillery has caused a lot of casualties in the eastern regions, which Moscow has focused on since it began. Invasion On February 24, the siege of Kiev began.

Retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, a former U.S. Army general in Europe, described Russia’s approach as a “medieval depreciation approach” and said that as long as Ukraine does not accept America’s arms promises, the British and others another type will destroy and dismantle Russia’s batteries. of sacrifice will continue ».

“This battlefield is more deadly than we’ve all been accustomed to in 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, where we don’t have that number,” he told The Associated Press.

“This level will be followed by officers, sergeants,” he added. “They’re an important part of the victim because they’re more open and constantly acting to do something.”

Makhachek, a military engineer, led a detachment that organized minefields and other defenses, said Colonel Ruslan Shutov, who attended his friend’s funeral for more than 30 years.

“When the bombing started, he and the group hid in a shelter. Four were with him and he told them to hide in Duguna. Hidden from others. “Unfortunately, the artillery shell hit Duguna, where he was hiding.”

Ukraine had approximately 250,000 men and women wearing uniforms before the war and planned to add another 100,000. The government did not say how many had been killed in the fighting over 14 weeks.

No one knows how many Ukrainian civilians were killed or how many fighters were killed on both sides. Victim complaints from government officials – who sometimes exaggerate or downplay their data for public relations reasons – could not be verified.

According to Western analysts, Russia’s military losses are much higher, in the thousands. However, as the casualties in Ukraine increase, the frightening mathematics of the war demands that it find replacements. With a population of 43 million, it has a life force.

“The problem is getting them, training them and getting them to the front,” said retired U.S. Marine Colonel Mark Kansian, senior consultant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

“If today’s war becomes a long-term battle of abduction, then you have to put systems in place to get replacements,” he said. “This is a difficult time for all the troops.”

Ukrainian general Muzhenko said that Zelensky’s recognition of the huge sacrifice would further boost Ukraine’s morale and that more Western armaments would help change the situation.

“The more Ukrainians know what’s going on up front, the greater the desire to fight,” he said. “Yes, the loss is great. But with the help of our allies, we can reduce and reduce them and proceed with the successful attack. It will require powerful weapons ”.

Jura Carmanau contributed to this report in Lviv.