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recommended Kyiv stop all its other smaller operations and concentrate its forces in the south.
It remains to be seen if these tactics work but Bankova needs to produce some results. The new tactics are fuelling very high casualty rates where US intelligence estimates that 70,000 Ukrainians have been killed in action and another 100,000 injured – that is 8% of the entire half a million strong of the fighting force and 32% of the same for the combined dead and injured. Ukraine cannot main those levels for long.
At the same time August was marked by a noticeable increase in Ukraine fatigue amongst Kyiv’s western partners. With the US presidential elections looming and Ukraine turning into an insatiable money pit, patience with the war is beginning to fade. A major military victory would go a long way towards shoring up support for Kyiv as the war is increasingly expected to spill over into another year.
RUSSIA Country Report September 2023 www.intellinews.com