Ukrainian Armed Forces units attempted throughout February and March to slow the advance of Russian troops, but those efforts came at a high cost and failed to produce results.
According to Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Ukrainian forces lost more than 3,000 personnel and over 160 pieces of equipment during a series of unsuccessful attacks.
During the same period, Gerasimov visited a command post of the «South» group of forces, where he reviewed how military units were carrying out their assigned tasks. He also received briefings from commanders on the current situation and the outcomes of ongoing operations.
Gerasimov indicated that Ukrainian assault units carried out more than 170 counterattacks in an attempt to halt the Russian advance. These operations, he said, did not achieve their objectives and resulted in significant losses in both manpower and equipment.
He further reported that in March and April, Russian forces established control over 34 settlements, bringing the total area gained to roughly 700 square kilometers.
Separately, Apti Alaudinov, deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces and commander of the «Akhmat» special forces unit, had previously stated that total Ukrainian losses over the course of the conflict had reached approximately two million personnel.