All of those Ukranian soldiers will be a casualty sooner or...

All of those Ukranian soldiers will be a casualty sooner or later. They have already lost over 1400. Did you think that Russia would allow an establishment of 'an Independent Republic of Ukraine' on their territory? PR stunt and a distraction from the real issue, which is an inevitable total collapse of the Ukranian defence in Donetsk. Z had to evacuate 20000 civilians in one day from Sunny region, just across the border from Kursk. Z knows that the retaliation will be hard.