>>512150689
Repost

Reducing things to their simplest form can help make sense of the POW/dead trades.

Offence
>Attack fails with 0 survivors
Defenders take all the left overs.
>Attack fails with few survivors
Defenders take all the left overs.
>Attack fails because it is aborted after taking some casualties.
Defenders take most of the left overs and the attackers might take exclusively their own fatally wounded, though they could leave them to increase their chances of survival and burden the enemy.
>Attack is a raid
Defenders take some of the left overs and the attackers may take most if not all their wounded and even some of their dead back. Though the attackers could leave them to increase their chances of survival and burden the enemy.

Defence
>Defence fails with 0 survivors
Attackers take all the left overs.
>Defence fails with few survivors
Attackers take all the left overs.
>Defence fails because it is aborted after taking some casualties.
Attackers take most of the left overs and the defenders might take exclusively their own fatally wounded, though they could leave them to increase their chances of survival and burden the enemy.
>Defence was "elastic"
Defenders take most if not all their wounded and even some of their dead back. Though the defenders could leave them to increase their chances of survival and burden the enemy. Yet either way the attacker is baited into a stronger defence that leads to failed attack and the defenders take the left overs, including the initial ones.

For the numbers being traded to make sense the Ukrainians must be failing at offence and defence.

Yet there is one more state to consider to get a full picture.

Attrition
>Defence holds for a while despite massive casualties as the attackers are trying to kill the defenders not take land
Defenders have to expand and exhume existing cemeteries to make room for the results of Syrsky's genius.

Now consider meat catching, territory loss, and begging for supplies, arms, and pay.