I sin daily updates British intelligence claims that Russia has lost momentum as a result of the limited progress it has made since the start of the war.

They also claim that Russia has lost a third of its strike force, as well as most of its military equipment.

Lieutenant Colonel Geir Hågen Karlsen told Dagbladet that it was natural for the advance of the Russian troops to stop.

This is the problem

– Russia does not have the ability to continue the attack. It seems that’s what they do in the Donbas too. Further west, they were in the process of digging for a defensive position. They seem prepared to defend the territory, and defend it, Karlsen said and continued:

– This shows that we are entering a long-term phase, where there may not be much movement, but that the parties remain ahead, said Karlsen, who did not wish to speculate on specific figures regarding the soldiers who died.

When asked if he thought the lack of progress could cause Russia to work harder, he replied:

– The problem is they don’t have more to work harder. Both the Army and the Air Force. Then the battle changed to a static position and progressed a bit.

Dagbladet previously explained how Vladimir Putin and Russia tried to hide the death toll.

Ukrainian authorities claim has received about 32,000 inquiries from relatives, asking for information about Russian soldiers who lost contact with them.

Many of them are said to have been left on the Ukrainian battlefield or hidden.

Lieutenant Colonel Karlsen feared a bloody summer in the area around the Donbas.

– Ukraine still has ambitions to counterattack when they bring in tanks, artillery and other heavy equipment from the West, but that will take time. They will practice using it, and unite the department

– It could be a long, bloody and hot summer in the Donbas and other parts of Ukraine, he continued.

– Everyone is shocked

Karlsen, like several other experts, was very surprised by the behavior of Russian troops during the war. He called what Russia had achieved in Ukraine “faded”.

– We were shocked at how bad they were militarily. They started the war with an offensive plan to take all of eastern Ukraine with light troops, because they thought Ukraine would surrender. The way they started the war was military fashion, he believed.