Russia Hits Major Tank Loss Milestone

Russia has lost more than 8,000 tanks since the start of its full-scale invasion, according to the latest figures from Kyiv, which outline the continuing high cost of the war on Moscow's equipment and troops.

In its update on Saturday, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said that Russia had lost eight tanks over the previous day, taking the total to 8,009, since February 24, 2022.

The milestone of 8,000 was announced on Friday by Kyiv when it said over the prior 24 hours, Russia had lost 14 tanks. Precise figures of losses are difficult to discern with both sides keen to keep the real figure under wraps. Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment on Kyiv's latest figure.

However, other estimates continue to show high Russian equipment losses, such as Oryx, a website which draws on still or video images for evidence although with the proviso that the true amount of Russian equipment destroyed "is significantly higher."

Nevertheless, as of Saturday, its tally for Russian tank losses stood at 3,153, of which 2,129 were destroyed, 157 were damaged, 350 abandoned and 517 captured.

The London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in February 2024 that Russian tank losses had surpassed 3,000 and Kyiv's count of Russian tank losses often increases during drawn-out battles or concerted offensives on Ukrainian positions.

On Wednesday, Ukraine said that Russia's artillery losses had surpassed 14,000 and meanwhile Russian troop losses continue to be high. The Ukrainian defense ministry said on Saturday that Russia had lost 1,110 troops over the previous day of 1,110, the ninth day in a row it had topped 1,000. The total number of Russian troop losses according to Kyiv, which includes those both killed and injured, is 533,090 as of Saturday.

On Friday, a project by the Russian independent media outlet Mediazona, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 56,858 Russian soldiers who had been killed since the start of the war, an increase of 2,677 over the last three weeks.

The project emphasizes that this number is drawn from public sources such as social media posts, local news reports and obituaries and so "offer only a partial picture" of the true losses.

Its figures also said that over 3,600 officers have been killed, including 424 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or higher. Lieutenant General Oleg Tsokov, Russia's deputy commander of the Southern Military District, is the highest-ranking official to have been killed so far. The analysts also said that at least 11,463 Russian inmates had been killed on Ukraine's eastern front.

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