Ukraine has already destroyed more than 500 Russian Army tanks in 21 weeks of invasion

@DefAviation ES 7·14·2022 · 19:54 0

Russian propaganda presents the invasion of Ukraine as a "special operation" whose objectives are being met, but the facts say otherwise.

Ukraine exhibits the tanks captured from the Russians and now used against the invaders
The 'egg cartons' of the Russian tanks: the poor protection of many T-72B3 and T-80

Today marks 21 weeks since the start of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. It will soon be five months since this aggression ordered by Vladimir Putin. The operations are far from going according to Russian plans. First the invaders had to abandon their plans to take Kiev, later they withdrew from the north of the country, and now they spend a huge amount of resources on making small gains in eastern Ukraine.

The documented losses of the Russian invaders

In addition to not achieving its objectives, Russia is suffering enormous losses, with thousands of dead soldiers and the destruction of a considerable part of the military vehicles that it has involved in the invasion. According to the Oryxspioenkop.com website, which has been documenting with photographic evidence the losses of both sides since February 24, Russia has already lost more than 500 tanks in these 21 weeks, specifically 505. In total, Russian tank losses rise to 868, adding to those 505 already mentioned a total of 31 tanks damaged and 54 abandoned, in addition to 278 tanks captured by the Ukrainians, which keeps Russia as the main supplier (involuntary, yes) of Ukraine tanks during this invasion.

The model that accumulates the highest number of losses is the already veteran T-72: a total of 481, adding its different variants. The T-72B is its hardest hit variant, with 143 tanks lost in total. Russia has also lost 159 T-80s and 22 T-90s, models more modern than the T-72, in addition to 30 T-64s. The cited source adds 176 tanks whose type has not been identified. Let us remember that Russia has a permanent army of about 250,000 soldiers and 2,609 tanks, according to its Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE), so those 868 lost tanks represent 33.26% (almost a third) of its total armored fleet.

In total, in this invasion Russia has lost 4,706 military vehicles of various types, of which 2,891 have been destroyed, 103 have been damaged, 332 have been abandoned and 1,380 have been captured by the Ukrainians. Included in this list of vehicles is the loss of 35 aircraft, 49 helicopters, 95 drones, 10 ships, and 2 logistics trains. Losses that will not be easy for Russia to replace, since international sanctions block the shipment to Russian industry of many electronic components necessary to manufacture weapons.

The documented losses of the Ukrainian forces

In turn, Oryxspioenkop.com has documented the loss of 1,259 military vehicles by Ukraine, including 205 tanks, a figure lower than the number of Russian tanks that the Ukrainians have managed to capture. The list of Ukrainian losses includes 38 planes, 11 helicopters, 25 drones and 19 ships. Ukraine is managing to recover some of these losses thanks to Western military aid, but it still needs more help to defeat the Russians and expel them from its territory.

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Photo: InformNapalm. A Russian T-90A tank destroyed by the Ukrainians.