On Monday, the White House estimated that Russia’s military has suffered 100,000 casualties in the past 5 months.

The casualties occurred in the Bakhmut region and other areas of Ukraine.

Joh Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, provided the figure based on US intelligence estimates. That includes more than 20,000 dead – half of those from the Wagner mercenary group, which includes convicts who were released from prison to join the fighting.

Kirby told reporters, “Russia’s attempt at a winter offensive in the Donbas largely through Bakhmut has failed.” He added, “Last December, Russia initiated a broad offensive across multiple lines of advance, including toward Vuhledar, Avdiivka, Bakhmut, and Kreminna. Most of these efforts stalled and failed. Russia has been unable to seize any strategically significant territory.”

Kirby says that Russia has made some minor gains in Bakhmut but that they came at a “terrible, terrible cost.”

He added, “Russia has exhausted its military stockpiles and its armed forces.” He called the casualty numbers “really stunning.”