NATO chief Rutte visits Kyiv, warns of Russian casualties

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte visited Kyiv on Wednesday, delivering a stark warning to potential Russian conscripts about the high human cost of the war while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The unannounced trip, which included the first-ever meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in the Ukrainian capital, came amid a series of long-range strikes by both sides.

In a speech, Rutte directly addressed young Russian men, stating they are being sold a raw deal by the Kremlin’s mobilization system. He cited NATO estimates that Russia is suffering more than 30,000 casualties per month, a rate he said exceeds Soviet losses during the entire decade-long war in Afghanistan. Rutte argued that new recruits are often deployed with little training and substandard equipment, leaving them with a very high chance of dying or being wounded, and often left to suffer.

President Zelensky, hosting the council meeting, echoed the assessment of heavy Russian losses, stating they now amount to 30,000 to 35,000 troops monthly. He described these as huge, irrecoverable losses that are steadily shrinking the strength of Russia’s occupation force. Zelensky argued that this scale of...