Graphic Drone Footage Shows Russian Attack Go Horribly Wrong

New footage published by the Ukrainian military appears to show the deaths of more than 20 Russian fighters, according to Kyiv, in the latest indication of the eye-watering casualties sustained by Moscow in its slow advance westward in eastern Ukraine.

The clip (warning: graphic content) was posted to Telegram by a company of Ukrainian drone operators and appears to show Russian troops scrambling on the battlefield under fire.

Several strikes look to directly hit numerous Russian fighters, or land very close to the soldiers. It is not clear from the video the extent of the injuries or fatalities. In a number of the shots filmed by the drone, fighters lie stationary on the ground, but it is impossible to tell whether the soldiers are unconscious or have been killed.

Casualty counts are notoriously difficult to pin down, but the footage broadly supports analysis from Western analysts, who say Russia's personnel have taken punishing hits to make territorial gains in eastern and southern Ukraine.

A brief description from the Ukrainian military company said Kyiv's drone operators "defeated two complete platoons of Russians." Platoon sizes can vary. The Ukrainian statement appears to suggest that 21 soldiers were killed.

Newsweek could not independently verify the footage or when and where it was filmed and reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.

The drone company is thought to be part of Ukraine's 47th Mechanized Brigade, which has been heavily involved in some of the fiercest clashes of the year so far in the country's eastern Donetsk region, including the strategic eastern city of Avdiivka.

Casualty counts among both Kyiv's and Moscow's armed forces racked up in the months of bloody battles for Avdiivka, which Russia captured last month. The city became known as a "meat grinder," a term typically applied to drawn-out battles where both sides sustain heavy casualties.

Recent fighting west of Avdiivka around Ukraine's new defensive lines has continued to come at an excruciating cost to Moscow and Kyiv. In the past few weeks, Russian forces have been pressing down on Ukrainian defenses in the north, close to the Kharkiv city of Kupiansk, and along the southern frontlines in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Western analysts have suggested Russia is relying on its much larger pool of recruits to outlast Ukraine's smaller number of personnel.

Earlier in March, the British government said Russia's monthly casualty count throughout February reached the highest point since Moscow's forces crossed into Ukraine for its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia has likely sustained more than 335,000 casualties in this time, London said. This "almost certainly reflects Russia's commitment to mass and attritional warfare," the British Defense Ministry said in an intelligence update posted to social media.

Ukraine and Russia scarcely nod to their own losses, and analysts say the figures published on one another's casualties are likely to be inflated.

Ukraine's military said on Tuesday that Russia had lost 840 fighters over the past day, bringing the total losses since February 2022 to just under 432,400.

If Ukraine's tally includes overall casualties, as well as Russian fighters who are missing or died in non-combat circumstances, it is a "perfectly plausible" tally, Nick Reynolds, a research fellow for land warfare at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Newsweek in February.

In late 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Ukraine had sustained 383,000 casualties since February 2022, according to Russian state media. This figure is inflated, and too high to be a true count of Ukrainian casualties, Reynolds said earlier this year. But it has nonetheless been a "very, very painful war for the Ukrainian people," he added.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky said last month that 31,000 Ukrainian fighters had died in the two years of war.

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