LogFAQs > #963117069

Western sources are saying they think Russian and Ukrainian military casualties are about equal so far. So Russia has no force advantage here. It's becoming apparent that this is a very hard war for Russia to win without bringing in (a lot) more troops. <200k is about the same size as the Ukrainian army (prewar) and is not enough to take and hold a country of this size without popular local acceptance. While the Russians are making advances in the South, they are probably going to hit logistical constraints fairly soon, and those constraints get compounded as they get further into Ukraine and as they need to devote more troops to holding conquered areas.

Urban fighting is known for creating extraordinary casualties - Stalingrad for example generated 800k in casualties for the Germans. I think the Russian command in the North realize this and have been very hesitant about making any attempts to actually take Kiev or Kharkiv in days. Instead, they are resorting to missle strikes against civilians, paratrooper attacks on hospitals, etc.