Russia lost 43 tanks in the past week as its forces have struggled to advance, according to reports from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukraine's armed forces provides daily updates on Facebook to detail the "total combat losses of the enemy." From December 10 to December 16, the updates showed that Ukraine destroyed at least 43 Russian tanks. The December 12 update showed that at least 24 tanks were destroyed in one day.
The updates from Ukraine's armed forces come amid the ongoing war between the two nations, which has lasted for nearly a year after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the "special military operation" on February 24.
Ahead of the winter months, many have indicated that Russia might be failing to make advancements as Ukraine continues to counterattack and attempt to take back regions under Russian control.
"Russian ground forces are unlikely to make operationally significant advances within the next several months," the U.K. Ministry of Defence said in a recent update.
In a recent assessment of Russia's offensive campaign, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that "Putin is using two simultaneous military efforts to pursue his ultimate objective of regaining control of Ukraine and securing major territorial concessions."
The ISW assessed that Putin's offensive campaigns in "Donetsk Oblast, particularly around Bakhmut and in the Avdiivka-Donetsk City area," hope to diminish Ukraine's ability to defend any other territory in order to force Ukraine into ceasefire negotiations.
"The massive Russian missile strikes against critical Ukrainian infrastructure are Putin's second military effort to compel Ukraine to surrender or enter negotiations on Putin's terms," the ISW said. "Over the course of the last two months, Russian forces have used missiles and drones to systematically target civilian and energy infrastructure in a way that generates disproportionate psychological impacts but does not achieve significant military objectives."
In an update on Friday morning, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian forces continue to "shell" military positions and civilian infrastructure in the regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
"The enemy continues to strengthen the defense line on the border of the Kherson region and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It also strengthens the defense and protection of water supply facilities to the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, in particular the North Crimean Canal, the update said.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
