Cars pass by destroyed Russian tanks close to Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2022.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia is able to replace its tanks at almost the rate it’s losing them, the UK MOD said.Russia has lost up to 365 main battle tanks since early October 2023.But it is generating at least 100 tanks a month, largely replacing those losses, the MOD said.
Russia is able to make 100 tanks a month, allowing it to keep its offensive effort at the same level despite suffering major losses, according to UK intelligence.
The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update on Monday that Russia’s ground forces have lost up to 365 main battle tanks, or MBTs, since early October 2023 — meaning a loss of a bit more than 100 tanks a month.
But it is able to replace them at a similar rate, it added.
“Russia can probably generate at least 100 MBTs a month and therefore retains the capacity to replace battlefield losses and continue this level of offensive activity for the foreseeable future,” the MOD said.
The MOD added that Russia, in addition to tanks, had lost up to 700 armored vehicles since October, and in that time it had “only achieved minor territorial gains.”
Since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has lost about 2,600 MBTs and 4,900 other armored vehicles, the UK MOD said.
But Russia’s ability to continue its same level of attack comes at a time when the support Ukraine is getting from the West, where it is getting its more modern tank models and much of its weaponry, is in doubt.
The gutted remains of a destroyed Russian tank lies at the front line in Ukraine.
Alex Babenko/AP Photo
Ukraine has lost far fewer tanks and vehicles than Russia has in the conflict, according to weapons trackers and experts.
But faltering Western support means that Russia still has an advantage.
Ukraine needs help to keep its weaponry and tank fleet working.
In the US, Republicans are blocking new support for Ukraine. The Pentagon said this means there is no funding even to repair weapons that have already been sent to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a German lawmaker said Ukraine is using only a “very small number” of the advanced Leopard tanks that Germany gave it because of a lack of spare parts and slow repairs.
Many individual European countries are still giving support to Ukraine, but member state Hungary has blocked a major $52 billion support package.
Experts also warn that Russia has “material, industrial, and manpower” advantages over Ukraine.
Russia appears to have been able to manufacture enough missiles to replenish its depleted stockpiles after ramping up its production capabilities.
Over the course of the war, videos have emerged of Russia losing many armored vehicles, including footage filmed in the eastern town of Avdiivka, which has become one of the war’s most intense hot spots.
One video showed a graveyard of damaged Russian vehicles in Avdiivka late last year.
Ukraine also suffered major tank losses at the start of its counteroffensive efforts last June, but losses seem to have dropped since then.
One expert told Business Insider that Ukraine quickly realized it had made a tactical mistake and pivoted from it, while Russia continued to repeatedly make the same mistakes, and saw repeated tank losses as a result.