On the anniversary of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has lost roughly 1,000 soldiers and 13 tanks, according to the Defense of Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin began his “special military operation,” which quickly escalated into a full-fledged conflict. Both sides have suffered heavy losses, but Ukraine has maintained a tenacious resistance in what Putin anticipated would be a straightforward triumph.
The Defense of Ukraine published a graphic detailing Russia’s overall casualties in the year since the war started on Twitter on Friday morning. The picture featured updated figures to reflect the losses on the anniversary. The report states that 970 Russian soldiers died on Friday, raising the country’s overall death toll to nearly 147,000.
The picture also displayed the equipment lost by Russia. Russia lost 13 tanks, seven armored combat vehicles, 11 artillery vehicles, three multiple launch missile systems, three air defense systems, nine vehicles and fuel tanks, and one piece of specialized equipment, according to a report from Ukraine on the anniversary.
However, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) senior adviser, Mark Cancian, told Newsweek on Friday that people should be cautious when believing numbers coming out of Ukraine and Russia. He cited Oryx, an open-source intelligence defense analysis website that collects estimated losses by analyzing video footage.
Ukraine’s numbers of eliminated personnel are close to what Oryx deems accurate, but its numbers for the loss of military equipment seem exaggerated. According to Oryx, the Russians have lost around 1,770 tanks while Ukraine claims it has eliminated almost twice as many.
“One thing about Ukraine is that they’re fighting an existential fight and regard information as another area of competition,” Cancian told Newsweek. “So they use information and propaganda just as the Russians do…Everybody already discounts Russia. My caution is we should also discount Ukraine.”
