Russia Has Now Lost 4,000 Tanks In Ukraine, 1,000 More Than It Started With

Russia started the invasion in 2022 with about deployable modern 3,000 tanks. Almost all of those have been destroyed by Ukrainian drones, artillery and shoulder-fired missiles. It has lost at least another 1,000 or more, some of which are 60 or 70 years old, which were put into service from its reserve logistics bases.

The good news for Russia is that the rate of tank losses is slowing. The bad news is that's due to the fact Russia is running out of tanks - both because there are few remaining functional Soviet era tanks mothballed in long term storage depots and because it is unable to build many new ones due to shortages of electronic components, sufficient quantities of steel - and the manpower needed to actually do the manufacturing. So the Russians are addressing their armor attrition problem - but attacking on electric scooters, motorbikes and old cars isnt working either. JL   

Taras Safronov reports in Militarnyi:

Russian forces have now lost over 4,000 tanks in the war against Ukraine, according to documented evidence from the Oryx Group using photos and videos. That’s 1,000 more tanks than the Russian armed forces had in active service on the eve of the wider war in February 2022. This number includes destroyed, abandoned, and captured Russian army tanks. The actual number of losses is likely to be significantly higher. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine  reports that as of May 29, Russia’s losses in the war reached 10,864 tanks and 22,645 other armored vehicles. The last captured Russian tank was recorded in November last year.

Russian troops have lost over 4,000 tanks in the war against Ukraine, according to documented evidence.

Analysts from the Oryx group have documented all these losses, who record every case of Russian equipment lost using photo and video evidence.

This number includes destroyed, abandoned, and captured Russian army tanks.

 

Oryx analysts have been keeping records since February 2022, when the full-scale invasion began.

Their database only includes equipment whose loss has been confirmed by photos or videos. Accordingly, the actual number of losses is likely to be significantly higher. 

 

Many tanks listed as “abandoned” were probably destroyed or captured by the Ukrainian military.

If a tank was initially captured and then destroyed, it is counted only as a loss of the original operator to avoid double-counting in the statistics.

 

If the origin of a tank cannot be reliably established, it is not included in the list.

In addition, between 2014 and 2021, i.e., before the start of the full-scale war, Russian invasion forces lost at least 50 tanks of various modifications. This includes the then-modern Russian T-72B3, which was first used by the Russian army against Ukraine in 2014.

 

In total, according to Oryx estimates, the Ukrainian military destroyed more than 22,000 units of various Russian equipment, including tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, and aircraft.

At the same time, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that as of May 29, Russia’s losses in the war reached 10,864 tanks and 22,645 other armored vehicles.

 

The last captured Russian tank was recorded in November last year. At that time, Ukrainian marines managed to capture a Russian T-72B3 tank in the Kurakhiv sector.