 Capture of Bakhmut cost Russia 60,000 killed and wounded. The West estimates that Russia has lost more than 60,000 troops as a result of the attempts to capture the city of Bakhmut in the east of Ukraine. A Western official told journalists on condition of anonymity according to Sky News, we judge that capturing Bakhmut has likely cost Russia at least 60,000 casualties in the Bakhmut Popazina sector over the course of the year-long battle. The official said he clarified that 60,000 is a conservative estimate of Russian losses in this area of the contact line, which includes both the wounded and the killed. Of these, the official added at least a third were killed. The source described the city as not strategically significant. Adding that according to the West, Ukrainian elements have withdrawn from the main build-up area of the town. We are seeing Wagner mercenary forces in the process of withdrawing, at least for now. Replacing these force elements is a significant commitment of Russia's already overstretched regular forces. The official said the total number of Russian losses in the war with Ukraine according to a Western official exceeds 200,000.