A French Air Force Mirage 2000. French is to equip Ukraine with this type. Picture: French air force
Russia suffered its bloodiest month in its war with Ukraine, in September, as its front-line casualties reportedly grew to 1271 per day.
Media reports talk of Russia continuing to ramp up ‘meat grinder’ tactics, used to describe the way Moscow sends waves of men forward to wear out Ukrainian defences.
The Daily Mail in the UK reports that Russia’s advances in the past 14 months have come at a cost: the death and injury tolls for September stands at 1262 soldiers killed or injured a day.
September is also the fifth consecutive month that Russian casualties averaged more than 1000 soldiers per day, the Daily Mail said.
Russia has lost more than 70,000 soldiers since its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to the BBC
Meanwhile, Russian forces have entered the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian frontline city of Toretsk, according to Ukraine’s military.
The Russian defence ministry said earlier on Monday that its forces inflicted damage to personnel and equipment near settlements in the area including near Toretsk.
Russia, which now controls just under a fifth of Ukrainian territory, has been advancing towards Toretsk since August.
NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS
South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun has reported that North Korean soldiers are likely fighting alongside Russian troops, with some believed killed and more due to be deployed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian media reported that six North Korean military officers were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Russian-occupied territory near Donetsk on October 3.
North Korea is expected to send more foot soldiers to support Russia’s war effort, Yong-Hyun says.
Both Ukraine and Russia have foreign fighters in their ranks.
FRENCH FIGHTER JETS
France is planning to send fighter jets to Ukraine in the first half of 2025, its Armed Forces Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, reportedly said, shortly after the Netherlands confirmed its first delivery of Western-made jets to the war-torn country.
On social media, Lecornu said that Mirage 2000 aircraft would be delivered next year.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June that Paris would send an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine with Ukrainian pilots to receive training in France.
The Mirage 2000-5 is a multirole, single-engine fighter jet developed by French manufacturer Dassault. It is a fourth-generation fighter as are the US-made F-16s that Ukraine now operates.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in early August that Kyiv’s air force was using the Western-made aircraft.
