More than 20,000 Russian soldiers have died and another 80,000 were wounded during a five-month fight to capture the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a White House official. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said half of those killed were soldiers recruited by private military company Wagner. The toll in Bakhmut accounts for losses since the start of December. Kirby did not give estimates of Ukrainian casualties. The White House will not put “information in the public domain that makes it any harder” for the close Western ally whose army is being armed and trained by a US-led coalition of countries.
