Western intelligence agencies estimate that Russia has suffered huge losses in Ukraine, both in military equipment and troops. Kyiv claims these numbers are even higher than those shared by Western observers, while Moscow has so far been very tight-lipped about the number of actual casualties suffered in Ukraine. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment. Here’s a breakdown of everything we know so far about the military casualties suffered by Moscow’s troops in Ukraine. After 200 days of war, Russia has suffered far more casualties than Western military experts would have expected at the beginning of the conflict. In this photo, women photograph children at the remains of the Russian tank on display on August 20, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Photographer
Fallen Generals
At least ten Russian generals have reportedly been killed in Ukraine since the start of the conflict in the eastern European country. Among the slain generals is Magomed Tushaev, a top Chechen special forces warlord who commanded the 141st Mechanized Brigade of the National Guard and was killed on February 26 near Hostomel, according to Ukrainian authorities. On February 28, Major General Andrei Shukhovetsky, commander of Russia’s 7th Airborne Guards Division and deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, was said to have been killed by sniper fire, according to Kyiv. His death was confirmed by a retired Russian intelligence officer on Twitter. Major General Vitaly Gerasimov was killed outside Kharkiv on March 7, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. He was a one-star general in the Russian ground forces and was chief of staff and first deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army at the time of his death. Major General Andrei Kolesnikov, another one-star soldier who commanded the 29th Combined Arms Army, was killed just four days after Gershimov’s death on March 11, according to the Ukrainian military. Major General Oleg Mityaev, head of the 150th Motorized Rifle Division, was reported dead by Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko on March 16. Major General Andrey Mordvichev was killed on March 19 in Chornobyvka, near Kherson airport, while on March 25 the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported that another lieutenant general, commander of the 49th Combined Arms Army Yakov Rezantsev, was killed in an attack near Kherson. On April 16, Russian media reported the funeral of Major General Vladimir Frolov, who was said to have died in Ukraine during the “special military operation”. On March 22, retired general Kanamat Botashev was reportedly killed in the Luhansk region, according to the BBC’s Russian service. The BBC reported that the senior pilot was flying an Su-25 fighter jet over the area when his aircraft was hit by a Ukrainian Stinger missile system. The death of Major General Roman Kutuzov in the village of Mykolaivka, Luhansk region, was reported by Russian state television on June 5. The announcement that Kutuzov had apparently been promoted to major general was made after his death. Russia has confirmed only four deaths among its generals in more than six months of fighting. The Moscow Times, an independent Russian-language newspaper based in Amsterdam, estimates that at least 317 Russian officers have been killed in Ukraine, a third of whom are majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels.
Soldiers were killed
In early August, the Pentagon estimated that up to 80,000 Russian soldiers have been wounded or killed in Ukraine since the start of the war. This is the highest number given by US experts so far, as in late July CIA Director William Burns put the US intelligence estimate at “about 15,000 dead and perhaps three times as many wounded”. In March, NATO had already estimated that the same number — 15,000 — of Russian troops had already been killed in Ukraine. Russian casualty figures are likely inflated in reports by Ukraine, which this week said more than 50,000 Moscow troops had been killed on its soil since February 24. The Kremlin, on the other hand, has been tight-lipped about the actual number of troops killed during the “special military operation” in the neighboring country, although it admitted that the Russian army had suffered casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry’s latest report on the number of soldiers killed or wounded in Ukraine is from March, when the ministry said casualties amounted to 1,351 deaths. Russian media reported casualties of 5,000 soldiers.
Damaged, wrecked and abandoned tanks, planes and ships
Oryx, an open-source website that tracks the loss of military equipment around the world, has collected photographic evidence of 5,887 Russian vehicles and pieces of military equipment that have been damaged, destroyed, abandoned or captured since February 24. Specifically, Oryx found that Russia has lost 1,029 tanks — 637 of which were destroyed, 42 damaged, 51 abandoned, and 299 captured by Ukrainian troops. Ukraine’s armed forces claim Russia has already lost 2,122 tanks, while the Kremlin has not shared any figures for its vehicle losses. Images of damaged and destroyed Russian tanks in Ukraine have been making the rounds on social media and news organizations since the start of the war, as media reported that the Russian vehicles had a fundamental, structural flaw that made them vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks. The Russian military is estimated to have started the war in Ukraine with about 2,700 tanks, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Santa Monica-based political think tank RAND. There was photographic evidence of the loss of 527 Russian armored fighting vehicles, 366 of which were destroyed, seven damaged, 29 abandoned and 125 captured. Russia also lost 1,137 infantry fighting vehicles – 740 of which were destroyed, 25 damaged, 73 abandoned and 299 captured – and 151 armored personnel carriers – 79 of which were destroyed, two damaged, nine abandoned and six captured – according to Oryx . Some 1,482 trucks, vehicles and jeeps have also been lost in Ukraine, as well as two logistics trains, all of which were destroyed, and 124 unmanned aerial vehicles, of which 63 were destroyed and 61 captured. At least eight Russian navy ships have been destroyed in Ukraine since February 24 and three have been damaged according to Oryx, including the flagship of the Russian Black Fleet, the Moskva. Ukraine’s armed forces claim that Russia has lost 15 warships and vessels. According to Oryx, Russia has also lost 53 aircraft, 51 of which were destroyed, and 49 helicopters, of which 48 were destroyed. Ukraine claims Moscow’s troops have lost more than 210 helicopters.
