Russia lost about 39,000 casualties in Ukraine last month in what officials in Kyiv said was the highest monthly figure since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The numbers are similar to those offered by other countries.

British defense intelligence officials over the weekend estimated that Russia in May sustained more than 1,200 daily casualties — killed or wounded — on the battlefield as they pressed a new offensive near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. British analysts said it was the highest reported amount in a war in Ukraine that has dragged on for more than two years.

“The elevated casualty rate is highly likely a reflection of Russia’s ongoing attritional offensive which is being conducted across a wide front,” UK military officials said in a social media post of their latest analysis of the battlefield conditions in Ukraine.

Russian recruits likely receive only limited combat training before they are sent to the front lines inside occupied Ukraine. They appear unable to carry out complex offensive operations.

“As a result, Russia employs small-scale but costly wave attacks in an effort to weaken Ukrainian defenses,” British officials said.

The Kremlin is continuing to recruit additional forces to sustain this approach. Still, British officials said the ongoing need to replenish front-line troops will almost certainly continue to limit Russia’s ability to generate “higher capability” units.

“The occupiers have two options: return to their land or be buried in ours,” Ukrainian defense officials said this weekend on X.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.