Russian Forces Suffer Heavy Losses: 6,700 Soldiers and 88 Tanks Gone in a Week

By Harrington Maury Last updated Dec 16, 2023 Share with new partner:

Kyiv authorities stated that Russia faced major setbacks in the Ukraine conflict last week, with significant losses in both lives and equipment.

According to figures released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia witnessed a staggering 930 soldier casualties within a single day.

The toll throughout the week was alarming, with three consecutive days seeing over 1,000 Russian troop losses: Friday (1,090), Thursday (1,300), and Monday (1,030). The cumulative count for the week climbed to 6,700, with Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday reporting 700, 800, and 850 Russian losses, respectively.

Since President Vladimir Putin’s aggressive invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s estimates of Russian losses had initially ranged between 400 and 600 for the first ten months. Nevertheless, spikes occasionally exceeded 800.

Attempts to verify these figures have been complicated, with British defense officials reporting up to 190,000 Russian personnel losses by the end of October, excluding casualties from groups like the Wagner mercenaries.

Underreported Russian Losses

russian-forces-suffer-heavy-losses-6,700-soldiers-and-88-tanks-gone-in-a-week — Kyiv authorities stated that Russia faced major setbacks in the Ukraine conflict last week, with significant losses in both lives and equipment.

Notably, the count surpassed 1,000 casualties for the first time on February 6, 2023, becoming a more recurrent occurrence in recent months, particularly since Russia’s offensive for Avdiivka in the Donetsk oblast. As per Ukrainian records, Russian losses have now soared to approximately 344,820.

In addition to personnel casualties, data from Ukraine show that 88 tanks were destroyed during the week, bringing the total number of tanks lost from the start of the conflict to 5,720.

Reports of Russian service on December 15 have estimated 39,424 Russian soldier fatalities. However, these figures are presumed to be significantly lower than the actual death toll.

Meanwhile, amidst conflicting reports regarding troop numbers, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, dismissed Putin’s claim of 617,000 Russian troops deployed in Ukraine, asserting the actual number was 450,000.

Yusov denounced these exaggerated figures as a strategy to exert undue pressure on Ukraine.

Looking ahead, Russia is anticipated to initiate a fresh mobilization drive after the upcoming presidential elections in March, following Putin’s declaration of a partial mobilization of 300,000 personnel in September 2022.