After the bitterest defeat in nine months, Ukrainian officials are trying to find positive aspects in the fall of the city of Avdiivka to Russia. Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the commanding general on the ground until Ukrainian troops withdrew on Saturday, claimed on Sunday that Moscow had lost nearly 47,200 soldiers to death or wounds in its capture of the eastern Ukrainian city northwest of Donetsk. Other analyzes say that the Russian army lost ten percent of its tanks in four months of fighting.
The capture of Avdiivka is Moscow’s biggest military success since capturing Bakhmut in May 2023 – and the result of a dramatic superiority in soldiers, artillery shells and, for the first time, in the air.
Many civilian houses have also been destroyed
Ukrainian military officials, as experts from the Institute for War Studies (ISW) in Washington analyzed, as well as hundreds of glide bombs weighing up to three tons each, fired from aircraft from a distance of up to 70 kilometers, also hit Ukrainian defensive positions in the area. former factories destroyed as civilian homes.
Russia lost 224 tanks in and around Avdiivka
But the price for this must have been very high. “By capturing a few square kilometers of devastated and depopulated urban terrain, the Kremlin sacrificed almost an entire tank division,” military bloggers for Forbes analyzed. Accordingly, Russia’s 2nd and 41st armies lost 224 tanks.
Russians lost 655 war objects
These are mainly the T-72 and T-80 tank types, but are also said to include some high-end T-90s. The Ukrainian army, on the other hand, lost ‘only’ 21 tanks. In total, the Russians lost 655 war objects (tanks, vehicles, equipment, etc.), while Ukraine lost “only” 50. “The losses of Russian tanks in and around Avdiivka may amount to more than a tenth of all the tanks of the Russian forces in Ukraine,” the report reads in “Forbes.”
“Russia has fallen into a trap of exhaustion”
Conclusion of the military bloggers: “By losing four times as many tanks as they should have lost, the Russians fell into an attrition trap. They could take what’s left of Avdiivka. But they will acquire the ruins at a cost in men and equipment that they are unlikely to be able to recoup quickly – and probably not without slowing the pace of operations elsewhere along the Ukrainian front.”
The war in Ukraine has already left more than 400,000 dead Russian soldiers
As Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to engage in fierce fighting in other theaters in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian General Staff has released new figures on Russian casualties. Accordingly, more than 1,800 Russian soldiers have been killed or injured in the past 24 hours. The number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded since the start of the war exceeds 400,000. There is no information on the Ukrainians’ losses, but they are likely to be at least in the thousands.
Military expert warns: “Moscow units are still growing in number”
But even if the capture of Avdiivka would cost Russia tens of thousands of soldiers, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on its army, as Jack Watling of the London-based Rusi Military Research Institute analyzed: “Moscow’s units suffered significant losses, but they are still growing.” Since the beginning of 2023, Russia has increased the size of its armed forces in Ukraine from 360,000 to 470,000. Moscow has also increased its weapons production and is banking on a victory in 2026. According to the London think tank IISS, Ukraine has 800,000 active military, but it has significant problems with new designs and supplies for the military.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
