Ukrainian Air Assault Forces Chief Says Russian Offensive Is Slowing Amid Heavy Losses
Maj. Gen. Oleh Apostol, commander of Ukraine's Air Assault Forces, says Russia's advance has slowed this year because of heavy casualties. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says Russia is losing more than 40,000 troops a month.
Russia's offensive in Ukraine has slowed this year, and heavy losses are one reason, Maj. Gen. Oleh Apostol, commander of Ukraine's Air Assault Forces, told a group of journalists at a secure location on Tuesday. In his assessment, this affects both the situation at the front and Kyiv's arguments in talks with allies that provide military aid.
"Even though the Russian offensive continues, the enemy is not demonstrating rapid operational successes," Apostol said. "They are slowing down." He noted that capturing a single tree line in a month is not an operational success on which further gains can be built.
Casualty estimates
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said this week that in recent months Russia has lost more than 40,000 troops a month, killed or seriously wounded. Early reporting suggests the figure may have exceeded 50,000 in October. Neither Ukraine nor Russia publishes exact losses. The Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated this summer that through June 2026 Russian casualties reached about 1.4 million, including 400,000 to 450,000 deaths. It put Ukrainian casualties at 525,000 to 625,000, including 125,000 to 150,000 deaths.
Counteroffensives and propaganda
Apostol estimates that Ukrainian forces have retaken more than 800 square kilometers this year in two local counteroffensive operations. In his view, this undermines Russian claims that further resistance is impossible. He also argued that many of Moscow's claimed successes are propaganda and that lower-level commanders may mislead their superiors. When real success cannot be shown, he said, soldiers with flags film supposed proof of control over areas, and such soldiers are usually quickly killed by Ukrainian forces.
During this week's U.S.-led peace talks, Russia claimed it had occupied half of the Ukrainian-controlled part of Donbas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is being misinformed. Russia says it has taken 6,500 square kilometers this year, while the U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War estimates a net Russian gain of only 73 square kilometers.
Apostol stressed that, because of a shortage of manpower, Ukraine is trying to minimize its own losses and prefers localized attacks to a massive counteroffensive.
