Russia lost 30 tanks and more than 1,000 troops in a single day, Kyiv's military said in an update on Friday, as clashes intensify for the Donetsk town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow's forces have lost a total of 322,900 fighters since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and 1,100 military personnel in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russia has also lost a total of 5,496 tanks and 7,833 artillery systems in the ongoing war, the update said.
Newsweek could not independently verify the figures. Estimates of casualty figures vary, with Kyiv's figures usually exceeding those of Western countries. Russia itself rarely releases figures on troop losses. In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 of Moscow's troops had been killed in the war.
A joint investigation by the BBC's Russian Service and independent Russian news outlet Mediazona on November 17 identified the names of 37,052 Russian military personnel who have died in the war in Ukraine. It said that the actual number of losses was higher than the figures stated in the investigation.
Kyiv similarly does not release updated death tolls. In April, a leaked U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment estimated that Kyiv had suffered 124,500 to 131,000 casualties, including 15,500 to 17,500 dead.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
In October, Putin said that Ukraine's losses during its counteroffensive were eight times higher than those of Russia, inadvertently revealing that Russian losses since June exceeded 11,000 military personnel.
Russia is reportedly suffering major equipment losses amid an ongoing battle for Avdiivka, which has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk.
Ukrainian commander Alexander Tarnavsky said on his Telegram channel Thursday that Russian troops began a third wave of its assault on Avdiivka. Ukraine said Russia recently accumulated around 40,000 troops for an fresh assault on the town.
Russian independent news outlet Pravda reported on Thursday that Russian forces had detonated a 500-kilogram (about 1,100lb) explosive charge in a tunnel under a Ukrainian position. According to Kyiv, it's a tactic President Vladimir Putin's troops have been resorting to since October.
Pravda said that the powerful blast left the Ukrainian military with no opportunity to push back against the advance, and "and all the defensive fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were quickly captured by a Russian attack aircraft."
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Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
