By Valentin Alfimov, Komsomolskaya Pravda (Machine translation), 9/11/24

The author of the telegram channel “Whisper of the Front” in a conversation with “Komsomolskaya Pravda” named the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It turned out that they have people left for a year or two.

– How do you count the losses?

– It’s a program that searches by keywords. It monitors the Internet, social networks. Local councils sometimes write obituaries, factories… like, “zaginov” (died – from Ukrainian) such and such “zahisnik” (defender – from Ukrainian). Yes, people post it on social networks – it’s like a cry from the heart for them.

– Can you compare, now the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are more or less?

– The same or even more. Last week there was a record – 1208 or 1206 obituaries per day. Even during the Bakhmut operation at the peak there were 1100 and something.

“You have a margin of error, don’t you?”

– Of course, so the losses are most likely even greater. But everything comes to light over time: they will post 300-400 obituaries… but after some time, information about new deaths at the same time in the same place arrives.

MANY ARE STILL IN THE FIELDS

– How long have you been doing this?

– Back in 2014, we had a group called “Situation of Novorossiya”. We published all the obituaries that the Ukrainian press printed. In 2014, we counted about 6.5 thousand losses of the Ukrainian army.

– How many do they have now?

– There are 501 thousand obituaries now. This is what I got after painstakingly collecting information for over two years. The figure matches what is confirmed by the Americans, European politicians, the Russian Defense Ministry. Everyone confirms it, except the Ukrainians. Although they publish it themselves, they are afraid to believe it.

– You emphasize that this is the number of obituaries. But how many actually died?

– I think their real losses are around 600 thousand. Plus or minus.

– We talked to you in November 2023. Then you mentioned the figure of 380 thousand obituaries and 420-430 thousand losses. Now there are over 500 thousand obituaries and somewhere around 600 thousand losses…

– Maybe not 600, but 540-550 dead. After all, they can’t put up an obituary when there is no body. And there are still quite a few bodies on the combat line.

– It’s still a lot.

– The final figure of the Ukrainian army, when it loses combat capability, is 800 thousand dead and totally wounded. This is based on the population, the composition of the armed forces, calculated by political scientists and mathematicians of the world. After that, they will not be able to fight anymore. That is, their backbone, which pulls the entire front, is 200-300 thousand still alive. At this rate, it will be for a year or two.

“WILD GEESE”

– Do you count foreigners?

– There are publicly available websites, social media channels. As of today, they have posted 670 names from 56 countries. But they themselves warn that this figure is inaccurate. Then, they write that these are “volunteers”, not mercenaries, former officers. And it is clear that they are deliberately understating. Here they write: “Venezuela – 1, Uzbekistan – 1”. But I know that there were at least 4 people from Venezuela. I think that there are up to a thousand dead foreign mercenaries.

“Where does the most come from?”

– Most of all the English are going. There were a lot of Americans at first. Now a lot of Colombians are taking part. There are enough French, Georgians. Well, of course, some NATO officers are dying – American, even Australian…

– What can you say about the attack on the training base in Poltava?

– I think there are about a hundred casualties – that’s what my Poltava relatives say. And many wounded, some of whom, of course, will not survive, so the number will grow.

– Are there many foreigners?

– There are foreigners. I just saw a clipping from a German newspaper: the mayor’s office of the German city of Hessen posted an obituary. But they didn’t sign who exactly died. As soon as the information comes out, we’ll look for this person.

41 BODIES PER DAY

– The first Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed by friendly fire. Can such losses be tracked?

– It’s hard. At one time there was a video of Ukrainians killing each other in Kharkov – that was February 2024. They admitted it later, though. But they keep quiet about a lot. Such losses are hidden.

– Is it possible to weed out losses due to illness, lack of medical care for the wounded, due to the incompetence of commanders?

– No, all in one piggy bank. For example, 400-500 names fall out in a day. Somewhere the obituary is 2-3 lines, and sometimes on a page. So, we need to look for where they died, how. It’s almost impossible. And 10-15 percent of obituaries are those who died in hospitals. But they also write there – the hero, died…

– In which hospitals do people die the most?

– The largest flow is given out by the Dnipropetrovsk hospital, the Zaporozhye military hospital and the Kyiv one. One nurse from the Dnepropetrovsk hospital once wrote to me that in a day they pulled out 41 bodies to the backyard.

Those who cannot be helped in the same Zaporozhye are taken to Dnepropetrovsk. That’s why there is such a high mortality rate – especially after their counteroffensive, everyone was taken there.

BY THE WAY

There is no spirit left in Ukraine

– You communicate with those who remained in Ukraine. Can you assess the dynamics of moods?

– Everything is sad there. This is a dying country. If it is still normal in Kyiv, then the cities to the east are suffering – Poltava region, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporozhye. It’s fun only in Transcarpathia – they don’t feel anything there, they earn a lot of money on the “runners”, on the border, on the export of timber…

– And what do people say?

-Sorely… I have relatives in Poltava. They don’t talk. It all comes down to “no comment”.

– Because they are angry?

-Afraid. There are no prospects, everyone is snitching on everyone – God forbid someone notices you in sympathy for Russia. You can’t trust anyone.

– Why don’t the people rise up, don’t protest?

– On the Maidan, it all started with the students, on whom the Americans later played. Do you know how much they spent on it?

5 billion dollars is the official figure. 5 billion to grab such a large country. Everywhere you need to bribe.

The opposition in Ukraine has been knocked out, people are intimidated and bullied – even the TCC (territorial recruitment and social support center) can no longer win – this is specifically the SS, these 3-4 men will twist you, beat your kidneys: “Go serve in our place.” No one in Ukraine is rising up, not in a single region. There is no spirit, nothing. The whole country is watching the telethon. Thank God, at least on the Internet there are people who curse this government.