According to NATO estimates, 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in four weeks of fighting in Ukraine, where intense resistance from the country’s defenders has given Moscow the swift triumph it anticipated.

In comparison, Russia lost over 15,000 troops in Afghanistan during a ten-year period.

According to a senior NATO military officer, the alliance’s assessment is based on information from Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has purposely or unintentionally disclosed, and intelligence obtained from open sources. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity in accordance with NATO ground procedures.

Ukraine has provided scant information on its military casualties, and the West has not provided an estimate, although President Volodymr Zelenskyy stated over two weeks ago that around 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed.

As Russia launched its attack on February 24, in Europe’s largest attack since World War II, a quick overthrow of Ukraine’s government appeared imminent. However, with four weeks of warfare behind it, Moscow is mired in a grueling military operation.

Zelenskyy used the anniversary to call on people all around the globe to come out in public on Thursday to express their support for Ukraine, saying the conflict hurts the hearts of  “every free person on the planet.”  “Come to your squares, your streets,” he said. “Make yourself visible and heard, Zelenskyy said in a video recorded in English near the presidential offices in Kyiv. Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters. ” 

 With its ground forces slowed or stopped by hit-and-run Ukrainian units armed with Western-supplied weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops are bombarding targets from afar, reverting to the tactics used to reduce cities to rubble in Syria and Chechnya.

According to a senior US defense official, Russian ground forces appear to be digging in and establishing defensive positions 15 to 20 kilometers (9 to 12 miles) outside Kyiv, with little to no movement into the city core.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, stated that it appears the Russians are no longer attempting to advance into the capital, and that Ukrainian troops had driven Russian soldiers farther east of Kyiv.