Seven dead and 144 injured is the still provisional toll of the new one Russian massacre in Ukraine, where a missile hit the main square of Chernihiv in a raid that the UN has defined simply as "atrocious". Thus the number of victims of a war which, according to an investigation by the New York Times, has already waged rises half a million dead and wounded Russians and Ukrainians, and whose future America looks with concern for fear that the Kiev counter-offensive will not achieve its objectives. However, yesterday the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, responded to American fears, assuring that Kiev is not giving up but is asking for more weapons from friendly countries.
Usa: "Ukraine will not break through"
The NYT estimates come on the same days that the The Washington Post, citing US intelligence sources, writes in black and white: “Ukraine will fail to achieve the goal center of the offensive, the key city of Melitopol, the bridge to the Crimea”. The reason? Difficulties to overcome the Surovikin line, the Russian defense line made up of mines, trenches, bunkers which defends the occupied territories beyond the Dnieper River, and the three cities of Melitopol, Berdiansk and Mariupol.
Usa: half a million dead or wounded soldiers, 300 are Russian
According to figures published in recent days, 500 soldiers died or were seriously injured during the war: 300 thousand Russian ones (120 thousand dead and 180 thousand wounded), the rest Ukrainians: 70 thousand dead and up to 130 thousand wounded. As mentioned, these are estimates. Given that Ukraine speaks of over 250 thousand enemies eliminated, while Russia admits only a few thousand. Numbers probably overestimated on the one hand, greatly reduced on the other.
The count is for soldiers only. But there are thousands too civilian casualties, in this case all Ukrainian. According to the UN, as of August 13, there are 9.444 dead and 10.947 injured. Of these, 545 are dead children and 1.156 are injured.
