Ukraine’s military leaders have called off plans to retreat from the eastern city of Bakhmut and are requesting reinforcements amid some of the heaviest fighting since Russia invaded over one year ago. Military analysts say that while both sides are suffering heavy casualties, Russian conscripts and Wagner Group mercenaries are dying at a faster rate. This week the U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, estimated Russian deaths in Ukraine have surpassed all its war fatalities since World War II combined, with as many as 250,000 dead and wounded in the first year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.