Russian Losses in Ukraine Pass Two Grim Milestones: Kyiv - Newsweek

Oct 18, 2024

Russia has lost more than 9,000 tanks and over 18,000 armored vehicles in its grinding war effort against Ukraine, Kyiv said on Thursday, with little end in sight for the conflict now heading into the tough winter season.

Ukraine's military said on Thursday that Russia had lost a total of 9,014 tanks since February 2022, including 17 over the previous 24 hours. Moscow lost 33 armored personnel carriers between Wednesday and Thursday, Kyiv said, bringing its tally of total Russian armored fighting vehicle losses to 18,002.

Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine's numbers, and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Russia's grinding advances along hundreds of miles of front lines in Ukraine have come at a heavy price, paid by its personnel and its stocks of military hardware. Russia captured eastern key cities, such as the Donetsk settlements of Bakhmut last May and Avdiivka earlier this year, but sustained tank and armored vehicle losses.

Experts previously told Newsweek that, early on in Russia's war effort, there were significant failures in organization and planning of tank assaults, as well as poor training, low morale, and ruptures in the chain of command.

The most-experienced tank crews were committed to the fight in the very few weeks of the full-scale war, leaving behind new recruits with few trainers to instruct them.

To backfill extensive losses, Russia pulled tanks from storage and placed its defense industry on a war footing, able to refill its stocks while taking constant hits from Ukrainian forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February this year that Russia's domestic tank production had increased fivefold in the two years since the start of what Moscow has termed its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The British government estimated at the start of 2024 that Russia could likely produce around 100 main battle tanks a month to prop up its armored assaults.

Ukraine does not have the same ability to produce replacement tanks and armored vehicles as Russia, but has received aid deliveries including vehicles from its Western backers.

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Ukraine had lost 18,634 tanks and armored vehicles in more than two-and-a-half years of war. Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian military for comment via email.

Ukrainian sources have increasingly reported Russian assaults with small groups of infantry fighters, coming up against Ukraine's defenses without using armored vehicles or tanks.

Yegor Firsov, a staff sergeant with a drone attack company in Ukraine's military, told Newsweek in Kyiv in mid-September that Ukrainian reconnaissance drones are not typically on the lookout for armored vehicles, tanks or artillery pieces anymore. "Most probably, I'm going to see some enemy guys using either a buggy, bike, golf car, maybe, trying to advance," Firsov said.

Ukrainian fighters are also seeing "mutilated cars, rebuilt for the purposes of the war," or civilian vehicles without a roof along the front lines, Firsov added.

Kyiv and Moscow are on the cusp of another winter season, with little prospect of a reprieve in fighting. The U.K. Defense Ministry said earlier this month that previous winters have not forced Russia to rein in its operations against Ukraine.

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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. military, weapons systems and emerging technology. She joined Newsweek in January 2023, having previously worked as a reporter at the Daily Express, and is a graduate of International Journalism at City, University of London.

Languages: English, Spanish.

You can reach Ellie via email at [email protected].

Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ...Read more