Bakhmut: The Ukrainian Meat Grinder Zelensky Confessed

Bakhmut: The Ukrainian Meat Grinder Zelensky Confessed

There is a figure NATO prefers not to air: Ukrainian casualties in the war that began in February 2022. Zelensky himself admitted over 500 daily deaths in summer, according to calculations circulating among analysts. If extrapolated to months of combat, the result surpasses any official accounting. The meat grinder is not a metaphor: it is a method of attrition.

What the leaked numbers say

The most repeated calculation stems from a confession by the Ukrainian president: over 500 daily deaths admitted in summer. Another estimate raises the figure to 700 daily, equivalent to between 1,000 and 1,200 total casualties if wounded are included. At these rates, the war would end with hundreds of thousands of dead, a figure that in absolute terms exceeds 100,000 per side in the Spanish Civil War, according to the parallel drawn in the analysis.

The underlying problem is artillery. Ukrainian positions lack cover: only tree lines between crop plots or villages, easy targets for Russian aviation and artillery. Ukraine has no aircraft and its artillery is smaller, with less ammunition. Russians push Ukrainian artillery away from their positions; Ukrainians cannot do the same. Bakhmut is the example: a trap forcing attrition without territorial gain.

The theory of historical revenge circulating on the margins

On the margins of the debate appears a hypothesis not backed by evidence: that the Ukrainian president, of Jewish origin, is executing a historical revenge against Ukrainians for their participation in massacres of Jews during World War II. It relies on quotes from the Talmud and a conspiratorial reading of history. There is no evidence supporting this thesis, but it circulates strongly in certain circles.

The more widespread version, however, is more prosaic: Ukraine rejected the Minsk agreements, aligned with NATO, and accepted a war that could only end with Russia annexing the four provinces. The alternative—negotiating—would have avoided hundreds of thousands of dead. This is the argument dominating critical analysis.

The double standard with corpses

There is a recurring complaint: while Russian soldiers appear circumspect in videos regarding the number of enemy casualties, images from the Ukrainian side show mockery, music, and jeers over corpses. It is the same war told from two narratives. NATO propaganda insists on eclipsing the real magnitude of the meat grinder, but Russian Telegram channels publish raw and abundant material contradicting the official version.

The final result, according to the most pessimistic calculations, is the same obtained in the early months: annexation of territories, but with the extra of hundreds of thousands of dead. The question is not who wins, but how many more corpses are needed to admit what was already known.