On the 105 day of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Russian combat losses have reached catastrophic proportions: about 32 thousand Russian troops, 1,398 tanks, 212 planes according to the AFU General Staff. Such loss figures are comparable to several European armies or the total losses in the great historical battles.
Summary of Russian losses in Ukraine as of June 10, 2022
- Tanks – 1398 (+5)
- Armoured Personnel Vehicle – 3438 (+9)
- Artillery Systems – 711 (+8)
- MLRS – 213
- Anti-aircraft Warfare Systems – 95
- Aircraft – 212
- Helicopters – 178
- Vehicles & Fuel Tanks – 2421 (+15)
- Boats / Cutters – 13
- UAV Operational-Tactical Level – 562 (+3)
- Special Equipment – 53
- Cruise Missiles – 125
- Liquidated Personnel – about 31700 (+200), 498 prisoners
Nearly 32 000 dead and 1,398 tanks. In seven weeks of invasion, Russian losses in Ukraine have reached historic proportions – compare in numbers
Almost 32 000 Russians killed in seven weeks of invasion – is that a lot?
More than the USSR lost in Afghanistan during 10 years of war (1979-1989) – then, according to official data, were killed about 15,000 Soviet soldiers, were wounded about 54,000 people.
More than Russia officially lost in the two Chechen wars. During the first “campaign” in Chechnya in 1994-1996, the Russian Federation, according to official data, lost about 6,000 killed and missing (although the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers said 14,000).
More than the U.S. Army has lost in 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan: about 4,500 U.S. soldiers were killed in that country during the 2003-2011 Iraqi campaign, and in Afghanistan (2001-2021) the U.S. Army lost 2,400 troops (a combined 6,900 American military personnel killed in two wars over two decades).
More than one-third of American casualties in the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War lasted 20 years: from November 1955 to April 1975. The U.S. was actively involved in combat operations from 1965 to 1973, during which time the U.S. Army lost 58,281 soldiers in that war (including 47,400 direct combat losses). This means that Russian Army losses in Ukraine during the seven weeks of the invasion were already about 34% of the number of Americans killed during the 8 years of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Three times as many “LNR” and “DNR” fighters were killed in all previous years of the war. Exact estimates of the total number of “L/DPR” terrorists killed since Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine are unknown. However, in February 2021, the UN Office of the High Commissioner estimated the total number of dead “members of armed groups” in the Donbass at 5,700 (from April 14, 2014 to January 31, 2021). To this figure we can add the recent estimate of the Combined Forces Command of the AFU, according to which 318 fighters and members of the occupation forces were killed in the Donbass throughout 2021. In this case, losses of L/DNR fighters in almost eight years of war (not including the new invasion) reach 6,000. The Russian military killed more than three times as many (19,900) in the first weeks of the war.
More than the size of some armies in Western countries. The armed forces, for example, have less than 20,000 troops:
- Cyprus – 16,000.
- Slovenia – 14 thousand.
- Slovakia – 13 thousand.
- Ireland – 12.7 thousand.
More than the number of Iraqi security forces killed since Saddam Hussein’s regime was overthrown. Since the U.S. invasion of Hussein’s regime fell, 17,500 members of the Iraqi security forces – including soldiers and police officers – have died in Iraq from 2004 to 2017. More than 15,000 of them were killed between January 2004 and December 2009. Russia, on the other hand, lost 19,900 people in a month and a half of large-scale war in Ukraine.
178 helicopters shot down
In the seven weeks of the war in Ukraine, Russia lost 144 helicopters – more than during its four previous wars (83 units):
- In the first Chechen war, Russia lost 21 helicopters,
- in the second Chechen war – 36,
- during the invasion of Georgia – three helicopters,
- in Syria – 23 helicopters.
212 Aircraft destroyed
Such losses exceed the total number of combat aircraft in the air forces of many other states (according to the AFU General Staff):
- Great Britain – 142
- Kazakhstan – 120
- Poland – 112
- Belarus – 105
1398 tanks destroyed
This number of lost tanks exceeds the number in some armies of the world, e.g:
- Belarus – 601
- France – 406
- Spain – 327
- Kazakhstan – 310
- Italy – 200
- Great Britain – 227
In addition, the 1092 destroyed Russian tanks is more than the combined losses of the sides in several major tank battles of World War II:
- in the battle of Prokhorovka (June 1943, now in Russia), a battle between armored units of the German and Soviet armies in the defensive stage of the Battle of Kursk, the USSR lost at least 328 tanks, Nazi Germany lost about 70 (398 tanks in total),
- in the Battle of Annu (May 1940, Belgium), the largest tank battle in history at the time, the Franco-Belgian allies lost at least 121 tanks (destroyed or damaged) and the Nazis lost at least 160 (281 tanks in total)
- in the Battle of Warsaw (July-August 1944, Poland) – the largest tank battle of World War II on the territory of Poland – the USSR Army lost about 284 tanks and ACP, the forces of Nazi Germany – at least 213 tanks and ACP (a total of 497 tanks and ACP)
1 missile cruiser – flagship of the Black Sea Fleet
On April 13, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the missile cruiser Moscow, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. The ship was hit from the Ukrainian Neptun missile system and sustained serious damage. A serious fire on the ship was confirmed by the Russian Defense Ministry (without specifying its causes), and it can also be seen in the video of the Turkish agency Anadolu.
On the night of April 14, Turkish and Romanian media reported that the cruiser sank, the operational command of the Southern Military Command also said that after the missile strikes the ship turned over and began to sink.
If this information is confirmed, the sinking of the cruiser Moscow will be the largest combat loss of any fleet in the world since 1982, writes Meduza. Then, during the Falkland War, a British submarine sank the cruiser General Belgramo of the Argentine Navy with a displacement of 10,800-12,500 tons. The cruiser Moscow has a displacement of 9,800-11,300 tons.
