How many tanks and other armored vehicles did Russia lose in Ukraine? What is the most valuable military equipment of the orcs destroyed by the Armed Forces? You will find the answer in this TOP-10.
Frankly, I am very pleased to tell you about the loss of Muscovy in the war against Ukraine. How many praises and propaganda speeches have we heard about the ‘unmatched’ weapons of the occupying army? That is why it was very pleasant to read about how our valiant defenders burn and destroy all this equipment, how they surprise Russian generals and make propagandists scream. It is a pleasure to watch and hear them freak out when ardent supporters of the ‘Russian world’ realize that their army is worthless, their equipment is on fire, and soldiers do not know how to fight, surrender or shamefully flee the battlefield. That’s the way to ease your soul.
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Tanks, planes, helicopters, ships, combat vehicles, artillery, vehicles and many other equipment, plus tens of thousands of people. But Russia invaded Ukraine, so we had no choice but to defend ourselves. Ukrainians have a strong motivation to fight, because this situation, in which we find ourselves at the moment, forces us to defend our lives, our homes, our cities and villages, our Ukraine. However, it cannot be denied that without the help of partners, without the supply of equipment and ammunition from the West, even the best motivation is not enough to repel this invasion.
The reports showed that light anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons combined with truly ingenious tactics of the Ukrainian army led to huge losses of the Russian occupiers, especially in the first 2-3 weeks of the conflict. Every coming day brought news about dozens of damaged vehicles, both ground and air.
Let’s start with the statistics provided by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DefenceU. It’s also worth following the ministry’s channel in the Telegram: https://t.me/ministry_of_defense_ua.
Thus, as of May, 25th, 2022:
That is, the total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 25.05 were approximately:
Fighting in the east and partly in the south of Ukraine is gaining momentum, so we can expect that these statistics will begin to change significantly in the coming days and weeks. If you are interested, you can track statistics yourself.
Let’s start with the shameful fear of the Russians to use their so-called ‘unmatched’ technology at the front. In other words, we cannot ignore two types of equipment that Russia did not dare to use in Ukraine. These are, of course, T-14 Armata tanks and Su-57 planes.
On paper, it seems to be a very modern military equipment with great potential, but so far it has been released in very small quantities. And given the sanctions, there are doubts that production may be increased at all. This especially applies to T-14 tanks. In addition, the Russians fear that in the course of hostilities some samples of this equipment might end up in the hands of Ukrainians, and as a result, all their ‘secrets’ would be on the other side of the Iron Curtain, in the hands of experts from Ukraine or even NATO. And I wonder if the T-14 Armata could reach the battlefield at all? Recalling the annoying cases at the parades, we have great doubts.
As for the Su-57, there is also great doubt as to whether these fighters are ready for prolonged hostilities. In addition, our troops already know how to land almost any orc ‘bird’ with Stingers. There are already more than 200 of them going to scrap. That is, the fears of the Russians are understandable.
Both designs had their problems, and probably still have, but the two most important reasons why they have not been used in the war with Ukraine are the fear of losing or falling into enemy hands and the small number of units produced.
I beg your pardon, but I also want to tell you what struck me most about this war. Of course, the fighting spirit and skill of our defenders is out of competition. They proved to the whole world that ‘Cossack kin never ends.’
Now about the losses. The most spectacular achievement of the Ukrainians was, of course, the sinking of the Moskva missile cruiser. Simply imagine that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the most powerful ship of this operational unit, sank.
This is a nice slap for the Russians, and a great victory and motivation to continue the struggle for the Ukrainians. Vladimir Solovyov, affectionately known as ‘Putin’s voice’ on Russian television, angrily asked, ‘How the hell did she end up in this part of the Black Sea? Since when is this ship can be threatened by a missile strike? Has anything been activated? What happened to your fire suppression system?’ The most well-informed Internet users told him that, as always in Russia, everything was stolen.
Yes, the sinking of Moskva, full of modern technology, is a symbol. But the whole list of other losses of the Russians is simply astounding.
Almost a thousand burnt Russian tanks (and every day, probably this number will be growing). Portable anti-tank missiles and artillery fire guided by drones are indeed a powerful threat to tanks. However, the losses of the Russians are also due to the poor quality of command, poor training of soldiers, lack of effective intelligence and proper interaction between the various units of the occupiers. Tanks have not yet said their last word in this war, and when used wisely, they are still the main tool for a powerful strike or effective defense.
So far, the Russians have shown that their tanks, such as the T-14 Armata with a toilet and an armored capsule for the crew, a 125-mm cannon that spits out 12 shots per minute, and software that analyzes threats and activates elements of the active protection system, are present only at parades. Although, even during the victory parade the Armata refused to obey, and the towing equipment did not cope with it.
I will add here my admiration for the incredible work of our artillery, which destroys entire columns of Russian equipment in a very modern way. Using the GIS Arta program developed by Ukrainians, the gunners learned to effectively destroy enemy positions.
Given that the Russians are afraid to use the latest and most valuable equipment in combat, let take a look at the existing list of weapons of the Russian army lost in this war.
We have selected the types of equipment that are or were most valuable to the Russians among the equipment used in the war in Ukraine. Of course, this is not all the weapons lost in this war, and we hope that something more interesting and expensive in the future will be destroyed by our defenders.
This is most likely Russia’s biggest loss in the war with Ukraine. 186-meter flagship of the Black Sea Fleet. Quite old, because it was released in the late 70’s, but still with great potential, equipped with modern weapons, capable of long-range missile attacks. She posed a considerable threat to the Ukrainian civilian population and army because she could carry out missile strikes without getting too close to the coast. It had to be eliminated, and fortunately it happened. Now she lies on the seabed, and Ukraine, having proven to be the champion in trolling Russians, has included it in the list of underwater cultural heritage of the country.
But the most pleasant thing is that it was sunk by two Ukrainian-made Neptune anti-ship rockets. How nice and at the same time funny it was to see the sour faces of Russian generals, politicians, propagandists and Putin himself after the fiasco with the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. At first it seemed that she did not drown and went for repairs, maybe burning, maybe not. The whole world was amused by the clumsy excuses of the Russian media.
And the stamp dedicated to the sinking of Moskva, issued by Ukrposhta in a limited edition, is still a coveted trophy not only of philatelists from around the world, but also of ordinary Ukrainians and our friends abroad.
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You have probably also seen a video of the destruction of this ship, when the Ukrainian military launched a missile strike on landing ships anchored in the captured port of Berdyansk. Two of them were damaged, and the third, Saratov, was so broken that she remained there.
The sinking of the BDK-65 Saratov landing ship allowed our Odessa to feel some relief, because the occupiers were constantly threatening it with naval landing. And so this landing party made a landing directly to the bottom of the Black Sea.
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The Su-34 still remains a valuable equipment that our defenders hunt for every day. Russian propaganda was especially proud of it even before the start of hostilities in Ukraine. Look at the names they used to call it: ‘unmatched’, and ‘state-of-the-art’, and ‘one that can shoot down any NATO aircraft.’
In reality, it burns and falls very well. Our pilots have proven that you can easily shoot it down in battle, and Stinger leaves them no chance for survival.
This Russian multi-role tactical bomber began flying in the 90s, but a newer version is released only in 2011. The aircraft can carry about 8,000 kg of bombs and missiles, has a top speed of 1,900 km/h (usually 1,300 km/h), a range of 1,100 km, and its crew consists of two people. In addition, Russia has also lost some valuable Su-35 and Su-30 aircraft. All of them can be described as derivative versions of the Su-27 model.
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An old, but still quite capable attack aircraft. In the war with Ukraine, Russians used mostly the Su-25SM version, which is a simple and cheap upgrade that has increased accuracy of firing and bombing. Armored and heavily armed, this aircraft is designed primarily to combat ground targets.
It can carry up to 5,000 kg of weapons, which is a great result for a relatively small combat aircraft. It is used for direct support of ground units, destruction of armored vehicles, military formations, buildings and fortifications.
But it also burns quite well, especially when targeted by our skilled combat pilots. I’m not even mentioning the Stinger MPADS. This clumsy attack aircraft often became easy prey. In general, sometimes it seemed that at the helm of Russian planes sat flight school cadets or pot-bellied ‘heroes’, such as the captive Alexander Krasnoyartsev. They are ridicule, not pilots.
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A two-seater combat helicopter, which has appeared in many movies and was considered the pride of the Russian army before the war in Ukraine. ‘The helicopter is used mainly for strikes on stationary ground targets, as well as armored vehicles and columns of troops. It has two coaxial rotors that rotate in the opposite direction, so it does not require a tail propeller. It can fly at speeds up to 310 km/h and carries up to 2000 kg of weapons.’ That’s what they said to be, but it actually turned out to be a flying coffin for orcs.
In addition, it has also become a real laughing stock, as Western experts are shocked by the increased vibration of the Russian Ka-52 and are surprised how it was even launched into serial production. You may know about one damaged vehicle that was left in the field in poor condition, because it appeared in various photos and videos. Incompetent orcs abandoned the faulty vehicle.
But the Ka-52 became especially ‘famous’ after a confrontation with the Ukrainian Stugna-P anti-tank missile system. Well, not quite a confrontation, an accurate shot from an ATGM ingloriously split the ‘famous hero’ of propaganda in half. Yes, you read that right. An anti-tank missile system managed to hit a helicopter from the ground. This has never happened in the modern military history. I don’t know how the designers and developers of the Ka-52 watched this video, but I would be very ashamed in their place, because their latest helicopter helplessly fractured and burned down on Ukrainian soil. Ain’t that a happy ending for the ‘movie star’?
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Now let us descend from the skies to the sinful earth. The most powerful propaganda slogan was: ‘Let’s drive our tanks to Berlin.’ This message was widely distributed among the inhabitants of Russia. Only the laziest didn’t talk about the might of Russian tanks, but in fact it all turned out to be a big mess.
Since, as we have already noted, there was no T-14 Armata in Ukraine, one of the newest and most valuable types of tanks lost by the Russians in Ukraine is the T-80BVM. This is a deep modernization of the T-80BV with a higher degree of protection and improved firepower. Tanks of this type have been produced by Russia since 2017, so practically they are one of the newest occupiers, despite the fact that they are based on the design of the 70s. According to the Russians, the T-80BWM has an ERA-type jet armor called Relikt, as well as protective shields that protect against HEAT shells from anti-tank grenade launchers. They received an improved Sosna-U sight, like, for example, in the T-90 and T-72BZ, as well as 125-mm gun 2A46M-4. The engine is a modified gas turbine.
On paper, it really looks solid, given that the Russians have added another superstructure on top of the turret, which our defenders called a ‘brazier.’ It was supposed to protect against NLAW, Javelin and other missiles, but in fact the T-80BWM turrets made such somersaults in the air that professional gymnasts might envy them. Many videos of the destruction of orc tanks are circulating on the Internet. The state-of-the-art Russian tank burns very well.
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Here comes another ‘unmatched’, ultra-modern, pumped-up, etc. Russian tank – a T-90M Breakthrough. It was often compared to modern Abrams and was supposed to make Americans fear, cry and hide.
There are also a lot of interesting things from the technical point of view. It seems that the name is appropriate – Breakthrough. T-90M is the latest version of the T-90A tank with increased combat capabilities. The front part of the tower is quite tightly lined with Relikt jet armor modules, which, according to the developers, are twice as effective as the previous Contact-5. The tank is equipped with a newer Kalina fire and combat control system, additional armor on the ammunition carousel under the turret, a more powerful 1130 hp engine, an improved 2A46M-5 gun and has a number of other improvements. In addition to the T-80BVM, it is one of the best Russian tanks used in the war in Ukraine.
Phew, haven’t I forgotten anything? But it burns like a Christmas sparkler, smokes like an old stove, and the turret flies like a butterfly. In fact, the T-90M Breakthrough is protected and armed to the teeth only on paper. Our glorious Armed Forces beat him up so well that it’s nice to watch. The ‘unmatched’ tank turned out to be just a propaganda weapon that scared everyone. He is like an overgrown fat kid, who was beaten by children in a group at the playground – everyone was afraid of him at first, but now he himself is sniffing.
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Now, this couple of Ivans scored most in ‘turret flight’ discipline. This ‘flying tower syndrome’, as I call it, is common to most Russian/Soviet tanks, but especially the T-72 and many of its derivatives. However, it should be acknowledged that, having a huge stockpile of T-72B tanks, Russia has carried out a relatively simple but at the same time reasonable modernization, which was to force these tanks to still receive acceptable combat capabilities. Thus, a newer version of the T-72B3 was created, and later the T-72B3M.
In turn, the T-72B3M is an even better version, with much more efficient Relict jet armor, a reinforced engine with a capacity of 1130 horsepower, more modern digital systems inside and an automatic transmission.
But it turned out that these tanks can perfectly get stuck in the mud and burn with bright flames. There are a lot of photos and videos of hit T-72B3 and T72B3M. In just three months, our defenders have destroyed more than 1,300 tanks, which is even more than there were at the border with Ukraine at the beginning of the invasion. That is, the occupiers are already bringing in the new ‘victims’ for AGTMs from everywhere. It seems they are trying to spam us with scrap metal.
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Since Soviet times, it has been believed that infantry should play an important role on the battlefield. Of course, it needs protection and combat vehicles to be delivered to the battlefield. This is how infantry fighting vehicles appeared, which were to facilitate the infantry offensive.
The racists brought a new BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle to Ukraine. According to the plan of Russian developers, BMP-3 is designed to bring infantry directly into the combat zone and support during combat. It accommodates 7 troopers and 3 crew members. The armored vehicle weighs less than 19 tons, has an engine of 500 horsepower and relatively light thin armor (about 35 mm at the front and less than 13 mm at the sides). The main weapons are a 100-mm cannon, a 30-mm cannon and a 7.62-mm machine gun.
The invaders hoped that the BMP-3 would help them in battle, but it does not always work as intended. In three months, Ukrainian defenders destroyed more than 10 units of this ‘ultra-modern’ infantry fighting vehicles. No ‘improved’ armor of BMP-3 helps, they burn like Hutsul bonfires in my native Carpathians, and there is no chance for troopers and crew members. For some reason, the Russians began to use them less and less – whether they ran out of it or are afraid, only they know the answer.
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The last ‘ultra-modern’ sample of ‘latest’ Russian technology in my list is the anti-aircraft missile system Tor-M2. Good name, but it has little in common with the glorious Scandinavian god of thunder and lightning.
These SAMs were repeatedly seized by the Ukrainian military during battles with the Russian army. There are at least 10 officially confirmed trophy Tors.
The reason for such a large number of captured vehicles is not in their huge number on the battlefield, because in fact there are about 120 units in the entire army of the Russian Federation (according to Military Balance 2021), the fact that it was the Tors that the command of the Russian army tried to use to provide air defense of its long columns of military equipment.
The fact is that Thor was created from the beginning as a means of protecting advancing land brigades, in particular, during the march. And the development of this SAM was started in the 70s of the last century, when the USSR had been dreaming of ‘advance to the English Channel’ by tank attack. Therefore, no matter how hard the Kremlin tries to call this SAM Russian, it is actually Soviet, and was adopted in 1986.
Given the specifics of the task, Thor was conceived as an all-in-one machine. That is, the radar target detection and guidance and missile launchers are installed on one platform, crewed by 3-4 people (depending on the modification).
The most hilarious case the world saw was the seizure of Russian Tor-M2 SAM by Ukrainian farmers. Probably everyone has seen the video of two tractors pulling the latest SAM. No army in the world has suffered such a disgrace.
Our developers even created a fun game, and they were inspired by this exact case, however, the game was called ‘Steal the occupier’s tank.’ Although, this does not change the essence of the shameful case with the Tor-M2 SAM.
During the three months of the war, Ukrainian defenders proved that they knew how to destroy enemy equipment, inflicting not only material but also moral damage on the racists. The whole world saw the shame of the Russian army. I am sure that the list of destroyed samples of Russian equipment will definitely be replenished. Victory will be ours!
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Ukraine will be able to break the backbone of the racist occupiers and throw them to our borders and beyond. Everything will be Ukraine! Glory to Ukraine! Death to enemies!
You can also help Ukraine fight with Russian occupants via Savelife or via an official page of the National Bank of Ukraine.
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