Dramatic new satellite images have laid bare the huge losses suffered by the Russian military during Vladimir Putin’s grinding war in Ukraine.
The before and after pictures, published by the UK’s Ministry of Defence, show how Moscow’s arsenal has been severely depleted – with thousands of tanks vanishing over the course of two years.
Aerial views show three bases inside Russia – tank storage facilities from the town of Buy in the west to Arsenyev in the far east – in the first months of the war and this year.
Putin’s forces have lost more than 3,600 main battle tanks – more than its entire pre-war active inventory – and nearly 8,000 armored vehicles since the invasion began in February 2022, according to UK intelligence.
The significant losses have forced Moscow to increasingly rely on its stockpiles of dated Soviet tanks, many of which have reportedly been exposed to the elements.
‘Russian military equipment losses in Ukraine continue to increase,’ the MoD said in a statement alongside the images.
‘This has led to a reliance on outdated and poorly maintained Soviet-era equipment from strategic storage depots.
‘Armoured equipment is being hauled out of storage, upgraded where possible and sent to the frontline.’
BEFORE: A satellite image shared by the UK Ministry of Defense shows tanks at a base in Ulan-Ude, Russia, in 2022
AFTER: A satellite image provided by the UK Ministry of Defense shows the reduction in the number of armored vehicles at the base in Ulan-Ude
BEFORE: An image provided by the MoD shows armored vehicles at a facility in Buy, Russia, in August 2022
AFTER: An image provided by the MoD shows far fewer vehicles stationed at the base in Buy in 2024
BEFORE: A tank storage facility in Arsenyev, Russia’s far east, pictured in 2022
AFTER: A fraction of the vehicles are seen in a second aerial picture from Arsenyev in 2024
Russian losses have not just been restricted to armoured vehicles, with heavy troop casualties seen throughout the war increasing further in recent months.
Officials in Kyiv reported last month that Moscow had lost more than 2,030 troops in a single day – the highest daily toll since the war began.
The MoD reported last month that around 1,500 Russian troops were being killed or injured every day.
Moscow has suffered a total of 700,000 casualties so far in the war, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month.
Ukraine has also suffered heavy armaments loses, but Western military replenishments have allowed it to maintain inventories while upgrading quality, experts have said.
Britain has donated Challenger 2 tanks, known for their heavy armour and hitting power, to Kyiv and the heavy vehicles have played a key role in offensives in Kursk, Belgorod and elsewhere.
In an effort to recoup its losses, Russia has placed its economy on a war footing and moved defence factories to round-the-clock production.
Hundreds of refitted tanks have been pushed out of production lines, with a report saying earlier this year that Moscow ‘has been able to trade quality for quantity’.
Meanwhile it has been replenishing its out-of-action troops with an army of around 10,000 soldiers sent by ally North Korea, according to Ukrainian and Western officials.
Russia’s T-72 tanks drive during military drills held at a firing range amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the southern Krasnodar region, Russia, December 2, 2024
Ukrainian forces destroy a Russian armoured vehicle during an unsuccessful assault in Ukraine
Pyongyang’s units have been fighting alongside the Russian army in the Kursk border region, which has been partly occupied by Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have been in a fierce battle around Kursk, and the official said Russia has been able to take back about 20 per cent of the territory gained there by Kyiv.
They said it will be possible for Ukraine to hold ground there for some time, but it will depend on how the rest of the fight is going, including the long-range strikes that Kyiv has been launching.
The reports of an intensified Russian counter-offensive in Kursk come at the same time as Moscow’s forces have been advancing in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s army early on Tuesday claimed to have seized another small village in the eastern Donetsk region, around 10 kilometres (six miles) south of the resource-rich hub of Kurakhove, which Moscow is also on the brink of capturing.
Syrsky said the ‘most difficult situation’ is currently around Kurakhove and the mining city of Pokrovsk – two areas Russia is aiming to seize.
Footage shows Ukrainian soldiers rushing around a vehicle and loading missiles into the launcher, before taking cover a few feet away and firing two rockets in quick succession
He said the ‘operational and strategic situation remains difficult’ across the 1,170-kilometre (730-mile) front line, a day after Putin said Russia’s troops had seized ‘the strategic initiative’ across the front.
Ukraine’s Western allied have been pressing to send as much military aid as possible to the war-torn country before Donald Trump gets into office in the US on January 20.
The president-elect has vowed to ‘end the war in 24 hours’ and is expected to push for a quick deal to halt the fighting when he assumes office in January.
That has sparked fears in Kyiv and Europe that Ukraine could be pushed to make big concessions to Moscow after nearly three years of battling the Kremlin’s invasion.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
