According to Yevhen Perebyinis, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Czech Republic, Russia has lost more than 3,000 soldiers, almost 100 tanks, 540 IFVs, 15 units of artillery, 16 aircraft units, and 18 helicopters since the start of the invasion. The exact losses on the Ukrainian side are unknown, but according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 240 civilians have died since.

As the fight for Kyiv continues, Russians still face heavy resistance from the Ukrainian army, militias, and civilians equipped with Molotov cocktails. The unexpected slow advance of the Russian army incentivised Putin’s ally, the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, to deploy his forces in the conflict. Although slow in Kyiv, Putin’s forces have recently entered Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest town, where they have blown up oil and gas facilities.

Lastly, in an unexpected turn of western diplomacy, Germany has softened their position on the exclusion of Russia from the global messaging network SWIFT. On Saturday, the Western leaders agreed to cut off certain Russian banks from the system. According to experts, this will shift Putin’s calculations regarding the costs of his war effort.