Russia lost more than 1,000 tanks and more than 1,300 IFVs in the invasion of Ukraine in 2023

@DefAviation ES 1·04·2024 · 20:02 0

Among pro-Russian propagandists there is a belief that Russia can sustain heavy losses indefinitely without any problems.

Russia ended 2022 reaching the symbolic number of 1,600 tanks lost in Ukraine
The mystery of the T-14 Armata and the old tanks that Russia is sending to the front

This belief is based on the mistaken idea that Russia has more military resources than it actually has, and also on the old Soviet doctrine that having numerous casualties and losses is irrelevant, since the country It has an abundant population and abundant means to afford it. The reality is that Russia is obtaining colossal and unaffordable losses in Ukraine, and all of this without having achieved any of the strategic objectives that Putin set for himself with this invasion: it has not managed to control all of Ukraine (and he is very far from achieving it), it has not managed to depose its government and instead of demilitarizing it, Ukraine has armed itself more than ever.

This strategic failure is even more evident when looking at the figures of the losses accumulated by Russia in this invasion throughout 2023. Some especially revealing figures are those related to the armored forces, which assume much of the weight. of the Russian offensive. Let us remember that Russia lost 1,600 tanks in 2022 in Ukraine and 1,872 infantry combat vehicles, in addition to 743 armored combat vehicles and 283 armored personnel carriers, according to figures from oryxspioenkop.com, which compiles graphic evidence of each of those losses. These are not, therefore, mere estimates.

Although the rate of increase in losses has decreased, mainly due to the fact that we are not in a phase of as much exposure of the Russian forces as in the first weeks of the invasion, the figures are still colossal: Russia lost more than 1,000 tanks and more than 1,300 infantry fighting vehicles in 2023, as well as 371 armored combat vehicles and 106 armored personnel carriers.

In the tanks chapter there are some significant data. In 2022, Russia lost 9 T-90M, its most modern tank model in active service (remember that the famous T-14 Armata has not appeared on the front, despite the announcements made by the Kremlin about its supposed deployment). In 2023, Russia lost another 46 T-90M, a considerable number, especially if we take into account that it is a model still scarce in the Russian army.

To give us an idea, these were the loss figures for each type of Russian tank in 2022 in the invasion of Ukraine:

• 908 T-72.
• 366 T-80.
• 58 T-62.
• 50 T-64.
• 37 T-90, including 9 T-90M.
• 179 unidentified tanks.
• TOTAL: 1.598 tanks.

And these have been the figures for 2023:

• 423 T-72.
• 356 T-80.
• 34 T-62.
• 32 T-64.
• 2 T-54/55.
• 60 T-90, including 46 T-90M.
• 110 unidentified tanks.
• TOTAL: 1.017 tanks.

Note that the loss figure of the T-72, the most numerous tank in the Russian army, has decreased considerably. However, losses of T-80 and T-90, more modern but rarer, have decreased much less. This may indicate that Russia is sending its most modern tanks to Ukraine as it receives them, and is consuming them in a war with losses very disproportionate to the meager results obtained by the invading army.

The total loss figures for each model adding the two years are as follows:

• 1331 T-72.
• 722 T-80.
• 92 T-62.
• 82 T-64.
• 2 T-54/55.
• 97 T-90, including 55 T-90M.
• 289 unidentified tanks.
• TOTAL: 2.615 tanks.

To give us an idea, in the invasion of Afghanistan, the USSR lost 1,183 tanks in 10 years. In less than two years, Russia has already doubled those losses in Ukraine.

On the other hand, at the beginning of the invasion Russia had between 2,609 and 2,849 tanks in its standing army. Obviously, its army will have received new tanks since then, but it is impossible for Russia to have even remotely recovered from those more than 2,600 tanks lost in Ukraine. These are colossal losses and they leave the Russian army very weakened.

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Main photo: A Russian T-73B3 tank destroyed in Ukraine in May 2023.