Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – Russia has suffered fewer casualties in Ukraine as its invasion slowed, but the numbers remain high and have a significant impact on the willingness of Russian forces to fight, Western officials said on Friday. Having failed in an attack on Kyiv in northern Ukraine last month, Russia is now trying to fully occupy two eastern provinces known as the Donbas. “The nature of the operations has been reduced in terms of geographical spread, so the total number is declining,” said one of the officials, referring to the Russian casualties. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “But the level of losses we see in the areas in which Ukrainian forces are involved remains quite high.” Asked about Ukraine’s losses, he said there were losses from Ukraine in Donbas. “They are suffering some losses (but) certainly not on the scale that Russian forces are receiving,” the official said. He added: “These losses in the Russian forces, we estimated that they had a significant impact on the will to fight wider Russian forces, but the Ukrainian losses do not affect the morale of the Ukrainian forces.” The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not provide information and it was not possible to verify their statements immediately. Russia, which says it has launched a “special operation” to demilitarize its neighbor, has not released official figures for the victims for several weeks. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Writes William Schomberg. Editing by Kate Holton and Philippa Fletcher Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
