Overview
- Ukrainian intelligence estimates at least 5,100 Russian soldiers have died on Dnipro delta islands since January, including some from starvation.
- Video from Ukraine’s 40th Coastal Defense Brigade shows suicide drones blowing up makeshift boats carrying troops across the marsh channels.
- Col. Oleksandr Zavtonov calls the sector a “death zone for Russia” and says captured soldiers described drinking river water after supplies failed to reach them.
- Analyst Oksana Kuzan reports severe shortages of food, ammunition and rotations for Russian units, even as the islets offer observation and drone-network advantages.
- The reports draw on Ukrainian intelligence, unit-released footage and prisoner accounts, with limited independent verification of casualty totals.