Isabel van Brugen
Newsweek
May 30, 2024
Russia is rapidly approaching a major milestone in its losses of armored personnel vehicles in the war in Ukraine, according to an update from the Ukrainian military on Thursday. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces posts figures on Russia’s troop and equipment losses as part of its daily update on Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the country, which began on February 24, 2022. It said Russia lost 22 armored personnel vehicles in the past day, bringing the total number to 14,913.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have lost significant amounts of personnel and equipment amid a recent ramped up push by Russia in Ukraine’s east to seize territory. Kyiv said this month it had stabilized the situation on the front line after the Kremlin’s forces kick-started an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10, seizing a number of villages on Ukraine’s northeastern frontier. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that Russian losses during its Kharkiv offensive were eight times higher than Ukraine’s.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces also said Russia lost 1,160 soldiers over the past day, bringing the total to 506,260. Moscow has also lost a total of 7,710 tanks, 13,101 artillery systems, 17,849 vehicles and fuel tanks, 815 anti-aircraft warfare systems, 2,222 cruise missiles, 357 military jets, 326 helicopters, and 27 warships in the war, the update said. Estimates of casualty numbers vary, with the figures offered by Ukraine usually exceeding those of its Western allies. Moscow rarely shares information on the number of its own casualties.
Kyiv similarly does not provide updated information on its own casualties. A U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment leaked in April 2023 said that Ukraine had suffered 124,500 to 131,000 casualties, including 15,500 to 17,500 dead.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) claimed on Wednesday to have intercepted a phone call between a Russian soldier in the Kharkiv region and his mother, during which he complained about battlefield conditions and constant attacks by Ukrainian drones. “We’re hiding now, f*** it. I read all the f****** prayers. Mom, people here have been sitting without water for nine days. They drink their own urine. For me, a basin of water is already a joy,” the Russian soldier said, according to the SBU. Newsweek could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip.
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and had previously worked with news outlets including the Daily Express, The Times, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Grazia. She has an M.A. in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London, and a B.A. in Russian language at Queen Mary, University of London. Languages: English, Russian