Russian forces' losses of four kinds of equipment are about to hit notable milestones, according to the latest estimates by Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that, in the previous 24 hours, Russia had lost 14 armored fighting vehicles. This took the total number since the start of Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022 to 13,942—only 58 shy of 14,000.
Newsweek has been as yet unable to verify these totals and has emailed the Russian Defense Ministry about Ukraine's latest figures. Kyiv says these "do not claim to be particularly accurate," although they do give "an idea of the general order of losses—how many billions of dollars are left in the form of Russian scrap metal in the fields of Ukraine."
Kyiv has been fighting with depleted ammunition as the Ukrainians await military assistance worth over $60 billion that has just been passed by U.S. Congress. Ukraine is expected to receive a new tranche of equipment within days.
Other round numbers of losses loom for Russian forces, according to Kyiv, which said in its latest update that 57 cars and cisterns had been lost the previous day, taking the total over the course of the war to 15,949, or 51 short of 16,000.
Ukraine has destroyed nearly 1,000 drones, after downing 10 on Wednesday, to take the total number of destroyed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have wreaked havoc on infrastructure in Ukraine to 9,449.
Another milestone appears imminent, with 28 artillery systems taken out the previous day, putting the total number of Russian losses of this piece of equipment to 11,836—only 164 short of 12,000.
Ukraine also said on Thursday that, over the previous day, Russia has suffered troop losses of 1,040, the first four-figure number since April 12.
The latest figures put Moscow's troop losses over the course of the war at around 462,980, a tally that includes both dead and injured. Accurate troop losses are difficult to assess, and Ukraine's numbers are lower than other estimates.
In February, the British Defense Ministry said Russian losses had numbered 350,000. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona and BBC Russian reported on April 13 that that at least 50,471 members of the Russian military had died in the war. Among them were 3,300 officers of the army and other security forces, and 390 had the rank of lieutenant colonel and above.
This was based on publicly available information, such as obituaries, graves and inheritance cases, and was likely to be an underestimate.
Mediazona said that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died in the second year of combat, showing the human cost of the marginal gains made by Moscow as the Russians engaged in the so-called "meat grinder" strategy.
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
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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