Russia Loses 22 Artillery Systems, 31 Drones in a Day: Ukraine
A report from the Ukrainian military claimed that its Russian adversaries lost a considerable amount of hardware on Friday.
On Saturday, the Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Services released updated figures in its ongoing tally of losses incurred by the Russian military as the ongoing conflict between the two nations stretches into another month. The update was shared via the staff's official Facebook page and cataloged everything from soldier casualties to military vehicles destroyed, with additions made to reflect losses allegedly suffered on Friday.
Among the statistics, significant losses over the course of one day were shown for artillery systems and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones. The staff report claimed that Russian forces lost a total of 22 artillery systems on Friday, for a total of over 3,400 lost since the start of the invasion, which began last February. The report also showed a loss of 31 UAVs, for a total of over 2,900 lost since the start of the conflict.
"Strike The Occupier! Let's Win Together! Our Strength is in the Truth!" the post concluded.
Pro-Russian forces are seen in 2015 firing artillery. A Saturday report claimed that Russian forces lost a significant amount of artillery systems and drones over the course of a single day. Pierre Crom/Getty Images
The Russian military has not consistently provided its own data about casualties and hardware losses to compare or contrast with those from Ukraine. Each side would also have reason to present the other's losses as significant.
Newsweek reached out to Russian officials via email for comment, and to the U.S. Department of Defense for an appraisal of Ukraine's claimed numbers.
Aside from the losses of drones and artillery, the other hardware losses mentioned in the Ukrainian army's report were less significant. The report added that Russian forces on Friday lost three tanks, seven armored combat vehicles, two MLR systems, one anti-aircraft system, 10 cruise missiles, 11 general vehicles or fuel tanks, and three unspecified units dubbed "special equipment."
The report additionally claimed that the invading force suffered roughly 480 casualties on Friday, bringing the supposed total since the start of the invasion to around 206,200. Defense officials in the United States have estimated similar numbers, with a leaked February report putting the range from 189,500 to 223,000, of which 35,500 to 43,000 were soldiers killed in action.
The same leaked documents claimed that the number of casualties on the Ukrainian side was lower, though still considerable. The documents estimated that Ukraine had suffered 124,500 to 131,000 casualties, of which 15,500 to 17,500 were deaths, according to Al Jazeera last month.
The alleged report also claimed that the conflict is unlikely to end anytime soon, predicting a "stalemate" throughout the rest of the year.
"Russia's grinding campaign of attrition in the Donbas region [of Eastern Ukraine] is likely heading toward a stalemate, thwarting Moscow's goal to capture the entire region in 2023," the report stated.
Source: Newsweek
