Russia’s total casualties have reached up to 200,000 troops since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A significant minority of these have been due to non-combat causes including extremely high numbers of incidents linked to alcohol consumption
As the latest the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine notes, that the advance of Russian troops around Bakhmut, despite the limited operational value of this town and significant Russian losses, may indicate that the capture of Bakhmut has become primarily a symbolic, political objective for Russia