Russia tries to freeze Ukraine as it suffers record casualties and retreats

Russia suffered its highest losses of 2026 in September, when 46,230 of its soldiers were killed or wounded, according to the Ukrainian military.The new record comes after Russian casualties of about 40,000 a month since June, and is close to the goal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy set in January of 50,000 Russian casualties a month. Russia reportedly lost 2,090 troops on September 28 – its highest 24-hour casualty rate of the war.Al Jazeera cannot verify casualty claims from either side. Ukraine says it has video of each casualty, as more than 90 percent of them are caused by first-person view (FPV) drones.But despite setbacks, Russia has been trying to seize the remaining areas of Ukraine’s eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that it doesn’t control — which is where casualties have been heaviest.Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has inflicted particularly heavy losses in the area around Lyman, where the third phase of a counteroffensive called Operation Vivaldi has reclaimed 176sq km (68sq miles) of territory in recent weeks.Corps commander Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky said it succeeded by feigning an attack from the west, and “forced it [the Russian army] to senselessl...