Ukraine's government has thus far kept its military death toll a tightly guarded secret, now four months into the conflict, even as heavy international scrutiny has focused on Russian losses amid prior widespread speculation and assertions that Russia was "losing".
However, there's been a noticeable shift in Western media and among the national security pundit class over the past weeks as Russian forces begin to solidify hold over nearly all the Donbas, and as the final Luhansk holdout city of Severodonetsk's fall looks imminent.
With this backdrop, Mykhaylo Podolyak - a senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - admitted Thursday that Ukraine is losing between 100 and 200 troops per day amid the Russian onslaught. The figure is significantly revised upward compared to President Zelensky only last week offering a loss estimate of between 60 and 100 troops each day.
After seeking to hide or downplay information which could give the appearance of sever Ukrainian losses and battlefield setbacks, it seems taking daily average casualties public is geared toward getting more arms from the West.
"The Russian forces have thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front and that includes heavy artillery, multiple rocket launch systems and aviation," Podolyak told BBC, and further:
He repeated Ukraine's appeal for more weapons from the West, saying that the "complete lack of parity" between the Russian and Ukrainian armies was the reason for Ukraine's heavy casualty rate.
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