13 February 2023 , 14:55
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Russian soldiers are dying at the highest rate in nearly a year as Vladimir Putin scrambles to make headway in the war, according to Ukrainian data.
Figures released by the Ukrainian general staff on Russian casualties show 824 Russian soldiers dying per day in February. This is four times the rate reported over June and July of last year.
The figures were highlighted by the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD), which says the trends are "likely accurate".
The MoD suggests that the uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including a lack of trained personnel, coordination, and resources across the front.
It said: “Ukraine also continued to suffer a high attrition rate. The uptick in Russian casualties is likely due to a range of factors including lack of trained personnel, coordination and resources across the front — this is exemplified in Vuhledar and Bakhmut.”
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Ukrainian servicemen walk on the road toward their base near the frontline (AFP via Getty Images)Bakhmut in Ukraine's east has become the site of the fiercest battle in recent days, as Russian forces are pushing their advance on the city with heavy shelling and infantry attacks
The presidential office said the situation in Bakhmut's northern suburb of Paraskoviivka is “difficult" as Russian forces continued to pummel the area with “intense shelling and storming actions."
Russian forces in the town have killed Ukrainian soldiers with axes before photographing their dismembered bodies and sharing the images, according to one military volunteer.
A Ukrainian soldier of the State Border Guard Service works in a position in Bakhmut (AFP via Getty Images)Seva Koshel, who has been delivering supplies to the frontline since the beginning of the war, told Sky News' Ukraine War Diaries podcast: "I have heard many stories directly from guys who are participating in this combat in Bakhmut and it was very difficult to listen [to].
"They don't take them as prisoners of war. They just kill them. But the biggest issue and the biggest problem, and the most difficult part is that they [do] not just shoot them... they took axes, they cut their legs [off], they cut their arms [off].
Vladimir Putin is scrambling to make headway in the war (Alexey Filippov/AP/REX/Shutterstock)"And [in] one case, they just have cut some heads off our guys and have found their phones and they just have sent pictures to their relatives with cut heads of our guys…"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said peace talks with Russia won’t happen after the Kremlin’s latest bombings, which Ukraine said included at least 100 missiles launched Friday.