Russia’s frequent defeats in Ukraine – how much ammunition does the Kremlin have left?

During a difficult winter, when intense fighting took place and Russia achieved victories in the cold, the lead turned in Moscow’s favor. At the same time, Ukrainian leaders have been struggling to build up their forces and faced a sharp decline in military aid from the West, particularly the United States.

Casualty figures vary

Neither Ukraine nor Russia have released detailed figures on casualties. A declassified US intelligence report cited by Reuters in December estimated that by 2022 315 thousand were killed and injured in February. Russian soldiers, that is, about 90 percent. pre-invasion personnel. Kyiv claims to have liquidated about 435 thousand Russian soldiers.

The New York Times cited a US military estimate leaked in August that said the total number of casualties was between 124,000 and 131,000. Ukrainians, including 17 thousand during the battle. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that 31,000 people had been killed in two years of fighting. his countrymen.

The Kremlin is increasing the number of its soldiers through mobilization and the use of convicts. in 2022 in August, Vladimir Putin ordered 13 percent. increase the number of active soldiers – about 137 thousand soldiers to bring the total number of soldiers to 1.15 million. After that, 300,000 were announced. “partial mobilization” of reservists.

International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) 2024 According to the military balance database, the Russian armed forces now have about 1.1 million. active soldiers in all types of the army, including 500 thousand – in the army. Moscow has another 1.5 million. people in reserve.

War in Ukraine

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Ukrainian soldiers (photo by SCANPIX)

Difficulties for armored units

The fighting was tough for Russian armored units, who were seen as a devastating force capable of breaking through Ukraine’s defense lines. Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed US official as saying that the Russian army entered the war with 3,000 men. tanks, of which 2 thousand were lost.

The missing part was filled with old platforms, such as the T-62, produced in the 1960s. Moscow now has about 1,300 tanks in use, the agency said. Some old tanks have been converted into stationary firing platforms and even packed with explosives for use as vehicle-mounted improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs).

Among those lost are dozens of T-90 main battle tanks, Russia’s most advanced combat-proven combat platform. The long-delayed deployment of the state-of-the-art system was shelved earlier this year, citing rising costs by defense conglomerate Rostec.

IISS 2024 According to the military balance report, Russia has about 1,750 tanks of various types, including more than 200 T-90s, and up to 4,000 are stored in warehouses. tanks.

The Russian “god of war” (as Moscow’s artillery was historically called) was sometimes silenced by the weapons of the opposing Ukrainians, but still plays an important role on the battlefield. According to IISS, Moscow has 4.3 thousand different types of weapons. Ukraine claims to have destroyed more than 10,000 people during the fighting so far.

Unseen blow to Ukraine, Russia declares transition to a

Russia’s weakness in the air

In the air, Russia was unable to capitalize on its numerical superiority in the early stages of the war. Ukrainian planes still fly regularly and, backed by Ukraine’s growing anti-aircraft arsenal, have closed much of the country’s airspace to Russian planes.

Ukraine claims that from 2022 February. shot down 347 Russian aircraft of all types. The open-source intelligence site Oryx lists 97 aircraft destroyed and eight damaged.

However, the Moscow planes are having a decisive effect on the eastern front, using flying bombs. In addition, Russia still uses various aircraft to launch long-range missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. According to Kyiv estimates, Moscow still has about 900 out of 2.3 thousand. pre-war stockpiles of strategic missiles.

The IISS reported that the Russian Air Force has about 1,169 fixed-wing aircraft, including 129 bombers, 188 fighters, 433 ground attack aircraft and 257 special ground attack aircraft, as well as another 208 aircraft assigned to naval aviation units. The Air Force also has about 340 attack helicopters, the Military Balance report said.

The Ukrainian Air Force announces the destruction of 29 Russian drones and 1 cruise missile (photo by SCANPIX)

Kyiv is improving its water arsenal

Some of Moscow’s most unexpected defeats have come at sea as Kyiv perfects a modern asymmetric naval strike strategy. Russia still boasts the world’s third-largest navy behind the US and China, but its Black Sea fleet has been decimated in the past two years.

The Black Sea Fleet began the invasion with about 80 ships. Ukraine claims to have destroyed 27 and forced the rest (at least 15) to be repaired. In the occupied Crimean city of Sevastopol, the naval command post was destroyed and several key dry docks were severely damaged.

Among the most notable losses to date are the flagship guided-missile destroyer Moskva, the attack submarine Rostov na Donu, the corvette Ivanovec and the amphibious assault ship Caesar Kunikov.

The article is in Lithuanian

Tags: Russias frequent defeats Ukraine ammunition Kremlin left