The scale and causes of Ukrainian losses
A missile is launched at a remote Ukrainian site. Photo by the Russian Ministry of Defense
Despite all the measures taken, foreign aid and assistance, Ukrainian formations continue to suffer heavy losses in manpower, weapons and equipment. Thus, during the notorious “counter-offensive” alone, Ukraine loses several hundred militants and dozens of pieces of equipment every day. The reasons for this are simple and understandable. The Russian army wisely uses the capabilities and advantages it has, while the Ukrainian command and its foreign curators make serious miscalculations.
Scale of losses
According to various data and estimates, including foreign ones, since February last year, since the beginning of the Russian Special Operation, the human losses of the Ukrainian formations amount to several hundred thousand people. Determining exact numbers is not yet possible, and in addition, the number of eliminated militants is constantly growing. Final calculations can be made only after the end of hostilities, provided that Ukrainian structures were responsible in maintaining the relevant documentation.
However, the general scale of the problems of the Kyiv regime can be understood using the latest data as an example. Thus, recently the Russian leadership reported that during the “counter-offensive”, i.e. since the beginning of summer, the enemy has lost more than 70 thousand people. Every day, reports from our Ministry of Defense mention the destruction of at least dozens of militants in different directions.
The Ukrainian side, for obvious reasons, does not confirm such data on its losses. However, she is no longer able to deny the losses, and very interesting information is provided. Thus, at the beginning of summer, even before the development of the “counter-offensive,” the leadership of the Kyiv regime reported that daily irretrievable losses reached 100 people, and up to 500 more people. get injured. At the same time, it was clear that such numbers were clearly underestimated.
Ukrainian artillery system in the lens of a reconnaissance UAV - now it will be attacked. Photo by the Russian Ministry of Defense
A few days ago, new information appeared that indirectly confirmed the high level of Ukrainian losses. At a meeting of the City Council in Poltava, the leadership of the local military registration and enlistment office indicated that of the militants mobilized last fall, no more than 10-20 percent remain in service. The rest were killed, wounded or incapacitated for other reasons. In addition, the mobilization plan is only 13% completed.
Together with the enemy's manpower, a variety of materiel is actively knocked out. According to the latest reports from the Ministry of Defense, since the beginning of the Special Operation, almost 12 thousand armored combat vehicles of all classes and types, more than 7,5 thousand units, have been destroyed. cannon and rocket artillery, over 13 thousand cars and similar equipment, etc.
Advantages of the Russian army
The high losses of Ukrainian forces are determined by a number of important advantages of the Russian armed forces. The existing potential is used competently and professionally, which allows you to effectively fight the enemy, inflict significant damage on him, and also solve the problems of the Special Operations as a whole.
Russian troops and formations involved in the operation have advantages over the enemy in almost everything - with the exception of the number of personnel. However, practice shows that this is not a problem for our army: by increasing the number of militants, the Kiev regime is trying to compensate for the failures in quality.
The Russian army has obvious superiority in firepower. Thus, since last year it has been reported repeatedly, incl. foreign sources that our artillery uses many times more ammunition than the Ukrainian one. In this case, we are talking about both barrel and rocket systems. As a result, the enemy receives great damage both at the forefront and at a depth of tens of kilometers.
The defeat of a group of Ukrainian armored vehicles equipped with foreign vehicles. Photo by UNM DPR
Other forces and means are also actively working at the forefront. Play a big role Tanks and other armored vehicles operating in conjunction with infantry. They are complemented by anti-tank missile systems. Also actively working aviation, both front and army. The enemy's military air defenses have been largely knocked out, and fighter aircraft can operate only sporadically - all this contributes to the effective delivery of air strikes.
Long-range missile systems and unmanned systems play a special role in the Special Operations. Attacks deep behind enemy lines using cruise or ballistic missiles, as well as UAVs, are regularly reported. Strikes of this kind affect various objects, primarily the locations of manpower and materiel. As a result, even one missile can cause significant damage to the enemy.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Russian army prepared a layered defense along a significant part of the front. According to all the rules, minefields and other obstacles, defensive lines, etc. are organized. Despite the absence of fundamentally new solutions, this approach to defense turned out to be correct and effective.
It should be noted that the advantages of the Russian army are determined not only by the tactical and technical characteristics of existing weapons and equipment. Of great importance is the potential of the defense industry, capable of producing and sending to the front the required products in the required quantities. In addition, the most important factor is the training and skills of personnel directly involved in combat operations.
Enemy mistakes
Probably the main mistake of the Kyiv regime and its foreign patrons, which then led to the observed consequences, was to overestimate its own strengths and underestimate the capabilities of the Russian army. As a result, the actual course of hostilities, as well as the availability of special means at our armed forces, turned out to be an extremely unpleasant surprise for the enemy.
Repair shop of the Ukrainian formation. Photo by The Washington Post
Quite quickly, the Russian army was able to cause critical damage to the enemy’s communication systems, unified air defense system, etc. With all this, Ukraine lost valuable specialists capable of working with complex and important equipment. This immediately caused direct damage to combat effectiveness, and also had delayed consequences. The fleet of armored vehicles, artillery, etc. was also knocked out, and ammunition depots were hit, with understandable consequences for the potential of the armed formations.
The fleet of Ukrainian armored vehicles is gradually decreasing, and even replenishing losses is becoming a problem. Combat vehicles are destroyed faster and in larger quantities than those received from abroad or returned from repair. At the same time, even modern foreign samples, due to illiterate application, cannot influence the situation.
Having limited forces and means, the Ukrainian command made a mistake and did not organize a massive attack in one direction with the aim of breaking through the Russian defense. On the contrary, numerous small “offensives” are being carried out in different areas, which are clearly insufficient to solve such problems. This tactic leads to large losses, but does not allow you to count on success.
Losses of armored vehicles lead to increased risk to manpower. Thus, the role of infantry fighting vehicles is transferred to foreign armored vehicles, often with lower performance, weaker protection and limited fire performance. As a result, the advancing infantry does not receive the necessary protection and support - and becomes an easier target for the defending side.
The lack of armored vehicles and artillery has already led to the emergence of tactics called “meat assault.” It involves infantry operations with insufficient cover and support or no support at all. The results of such events are well known - it is because of them that now daily triple-digit losses of enemy manpower appear in the reports of our Ministry of Defense.
Attack of the next enemy object. View from the seeker of the LMUR missile. Photo Telegram / Komdiv_76
The situation is aggravated by the dubious desire of the Kyiv regime for high-profile news and “overcoming” in the media space. For the sake of successful news or footage that has no real significance, they are ready to risk the lives of their fighters and materiel. Right now this can be observed in the example of several destroyed settlements in the “gray zone”, which they are trying to pass off as particularly important objects.
The tactics used by the Kyiv regime, the general logic of the “counter-offensive” and other actions, as well as their results themselves are factors that directly or indirectly increase the losses of Ukrainian formations. However, it seems they are not planning to do anything about it. The current Ukrainian command has no interest in preserving personnel and equipment, and their losses, regardless of scale, are not considered something unacceptable.
Objective results
One of the main goals of the Special Operation to protect Donbass is the demilitarization of Ukraine - the destruction of its military potential and the elimination of any threat from it to our new regions and the country as a whole. The main way to solve this problem is to destroy enemy troops in the combat zone and defeat its rear infrastructure.
The most noticeable result of these processes is the destruction of manpower, weapons and equipment. The quantitative and qualitative indicators of Ukrainian formations are constantly declining, which leads to new risks for them and contributes to further demilitarization measures. At the same time, the Kiev regime and its patrons, it seems, are no longer able or unwilling to correct this situation, and in addition, they often make mistakes that further worsen their situation.
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