Washington Post article: The war in Ukraine is about to become the bloodiest in modern history

Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine is entering its fifth month, with no end in sight, as the "strenuous struggle" has moved to Ukraine's eastern regions, according to

in The Washington Post.

In his article in the newspaper, Paul Post, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, asserts that American attention has shifted somewhat from the war there to the internal concerns of the United States, which makes overlooking what is happening in Ukraine one of the most deadly conflicts in the past 200 years.

Moreover, it is because it is “pure” a proxy war and not a clash between two superpowers;

America tends to hide its size and scope.

The largest number of dead

However, the writer believes that the death rate of soldiers is in such numbers that it far exceeds the rates in ordinary modern wars;

This means that the Ukraine war is increasingly at the top of the list of conflicts that have caused the largest number of deaths.

The Ukrainian war may seem secondary after the two world wars that raged in the last century and resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of soldiers and civilians.

However, the author of the article believes that these are cases of dissonance that disturb our understanding of the international conflict.

The Correlates of War Project, an academic study of war history that includes data dating back to 1816, provides a more comprehensive picture.

The draft defines war as continuous combat between the regular armed forces of different countries that results in at least 1,000 battlefield deaths in a 12-month period.

Ordinary war - according to that study - kills about 50 soldiers a day and lasts about 100 days.

The deadliest wars in the world

A quarter of the world's deadliest wars see just over 200 battlefield deaths a day, according to academic study data.

The Russo-Ukrainian War has already crossed that threshold, even using conservative estimates of the death toll.

British intelligence officials estimated in late May that the Russians had lost 15,000 soldiers, which equates to just over 150 soldiers a day.

The Ukrainian government admits that it loses 200 soldiers a day, which makes the war in its territory top in intensity, without taking into account civilian deaths.

Exceeded the period of normal wars

In his article, the American academic says that the Russian-Ukrainian war has already exceeded the duration of normal wars since 1816, which is estimated at 100 days.

He adds that the evidence indicates that the hostilities will be prolonged;

It is far from indicating that it is heading towards calm.

For its part, Russia seems ready to incur heavy losses in order to achieve military gains, which is consistent with this country's history of wars.

At a time when Russia excels in several and equipment, factors that would usually shorten the war, Ukraine receives a continuous supply of arms and ammunition from external powers (mostly from NATO - NATO), according to the words of the Washington Post article.

This combination of factors resulted - according to the author - a war of attrition characterized by long-range bombing and intermittent high-intensity attacks.

Wars of this kind tend to be protracted in nature.

What if it continues until the beginning of 2023?

The writer goes on to say that if the Ukraine war continues until the beginning of 2023, the number of its dead may exceed the deaths of the Ethiopian-Eritrean war (120,000 dead), which began in the late 1990s and lasted a little more than two years.

But if the war continues for another year, then with more than 200,000 dead on the battlefield;

It can be included in the list of the top 10 international wars in terms of death toll;

over the past 200 years.

According to the author of the article, this war will be one of the bloodiest wars in the past 200 years, even if NATO and Russia succeed in not slipping into a direct conflict;

“And it is a potentially risky… use of nuclear weapons.”