蜜芽传媒

Nato leaders are holding an emergency summit on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But what's really going on in the conflict, on the ground?

Russia maintains that what it calls its "special operation" is going to plan - and would have already come to a "victorious conclusion" had the Ukrainian forces "not taken civilians hostage". Ukraine tells a different tale, of mounting Russian losses.

Christo Grozev is the lead Russia investigator and executive director of Bellingcat - which specialises in online investigations. He told Newsday that Russia has suffered more military casualties, but that estimating an actual death toll involves looking at mechanical losses.

He says that tracking the numbers of destroyed tanks, aircraft and vehicles would "put the likely number of [Russian] casualties in the range of 8,000 to 9,000... which is much higher than the Russian side is saying, lower than what the Ukrainian side is saying... Ukrainian losses are lower by about 20%." These figures are in line with the numbers reported by the Pentagon in Washington.

(Pic: Funeral ceremony of Ukrainian soldiers in Lviv, Ukraine. Credit: EPA)

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