Kremlin says “no settlement” has been reached on doable prisoner launch

Greater than 75,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the course of the conflict in Ukraine, Biden administration officers advised US lawmakers throughout a labeled briefing on Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov disputed the determine in regard to a New York Instances report.

“This isn’t a press release from the American administration,” Peskov mentioned throughout a name with journalists on Thursday. “It is a newspaper article. These days, even essentially the most respected newspapers don’t draw back from spreading all kinds of fakes. This, sadly, is a apply that’s changing into increasingly more frequent. That is the way it must be handled.”

It is troublesome to independently gauge casualty figures within the conflict. Each Russian and Ukrainian officers, in search of to achieve the higher hand in propaganda efforts, have at occasions exaggerated army developments and downplayed setbacks. The Kremlin doesn’t often present updates on casualties; on March 25, Russia’s Ministry of Protection mentioned 1,351 of its troopers had died within the first month of the invasion, however it has not shared any updates since.

Final week, Richard Moore, the top of MI6, said at the Aspen Security Forum that he believes the Russians will start to lose steam within the coming weeks as a result of they’re operating out of manpower. 

And the following few weeks of the conflict shall be essential, US and Western officers have mentioned, as a result of the Ukrainians are going to attempt to mount a serious counteroffensive within the south earlier than the winter. Ukraine is in search of further reinforcements, lawmakers had been advised in Wednesday’s briefing.

Ukraine will purpose to take again the southern metropolis of Kherson, which has been occupied by Russia since March, US and western officers consider.

“The kind of foremost dialog within the briefing was, you already know, what extra we will and must be doing for the Ukrainians, actually within the subsequent three to 6 weeks, very urgently. Ukrainians wish to go to the south and do operations within the south. And we wish them to be as profitable as doable,” Slotkin mentioned.  

“I believe that what we heard very firmly from President Zelensky and bolstered right now is that the Ukrainians actually wish to hit Russia within the enamel just a few occasions earlier than the winter comes, put them in the perfect place doable, notably hitting them down south.”

Throughout the briefing, Slotkin mentioned there was bipartisan assist for sending Ukraine long-range missiles, often called ATACMS, that may strike so far as 180 miles away.

The Ukrainians have been urging the US to supply these methods for months, as a result of the HIMARS they possess can solely strike distances of round 49 miles. 

However nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan mentioned final week on the Aspen Safety Discussion board that the US wouldn’t be offering the ATACMS, as a result of they might be used to strike into Russian territory, which might escalate the conflict even additional.