Russian military losses reach staggering new levels in Ukraine

The Russian war machine is sputtering and there is nowhere to hide for Vladimir Putin as the country’s combat losses reach eye-watering levels.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands near a destroyed Russian tank in the northeastern city of Trostianets, on March 29, 2022. Picture: Fadel Senna/AFP

The war has not gone to plan for Vladimir Putin.

That much has been clear for some time. But exactly how poorly Russia has performed in six weeks of combat with Ukraine is only now coming to light.

The armed forces of Ukraine — who must take most of the credit for pushing Putin’s army back towards Moscow — have shared estimates of Russia’s combat losses that include troops, planes, tanks, boats and other vehicles.

Data shared by Ukrainian English language news service The Kyiv Independent makes for sobering reading.

As of Sunday, April 10, Ukraine estimates that Russia has lost 19,300 troops, 722 tanks, 152 planes, 137 helicopters, 1911 armoured personnel carriers, 1384 vehicles, 76 fuel tanks, 108 multiple launch rocket systems and seven boats.

These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of April 10, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/k1tDPaw9ef

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 10, 2022

‘A huge tragedy’ for Russia

The losses have led to some hard conversations in Russia, both privately and publicly.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, told Sky News on Thursday that the country had suffered “significant losses of troops and it’s a huge tragedy for us”.

The frank admission comes as both sides count their losses from a war that keeps raging on.

In Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, a missile strike on a railway station Saturday killed 52 people. The victims included five children.

More Russian shells arrived on Saturday in eastern cities of Vugledar and Novo Mikhaylovka.

In Bucha, where authorities say hundreds were killed, some with their hands bound, the death roll keeps climbing.

And Ukrainian officials say they are uncovering even greater devastation in nearby towns.

Fresh allegations also emerged from Obukhovychi, northwest of Kyiv, where villagers told AFP they were used as human shields.

A destroyed Russian army tank northwest of Kyiv on April 8, 2022. Picture: Sergei Supinsky / AFP

A Ukrainian serviceman stands near a destroyed Russian tank in the northeastern city of Trostianets, on March 29, 2022. Picture: Fadel Senna/AFP

Both sides are trading prisoners, too. Ukraine said Saturday it had completed a third prisoner exchange with Russia, bringing 12 soldiers and 14 civilians home.

But Moscow said Russian troops also fired on a Ukrainian vessel trying to evacuate commanders of the Azov battalion from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol.

The diplomatic solution Ukraine seeks is still a one-way conversation. Ukraine is “still ready” to continue negotiations with Moscow, which have stalled since the discovery of atrocities in Bucha and other areas near Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky says.

“We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to end this war through diplomacy,” he told a news conference.

Humanitarian corridors opening up

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Sunday that Kyiv would use nine humanitarian corridors to help Ukrainians escape heavy fighting — fighting that is expected to intensify in coming days.

“All the routes for the humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk region will work as long as there is a cease-fire by the occupying Russian troops,” she said in a statement on Telegram.

The corridors would allow nine trains to be used for evacuations.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday to meet with Mr Zelensky.

While a handful of other leaders have visited Kyiv since Russia invaded, Mr Johnson’s trip marks one of the highest profile face-to-face meetings with Zelensky. He is the first leader of the Group of 7 (G7) most industrialised nations to meet Ukraine’s president in person during the war.

The letter "Z" is seen on a burnt, destroyed Russian tank on March 31, 2022 in Malaya Rohan, Ukraine. Picture: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The aerial view taken near Kyiv on March 30, 2022 shows a destroyed Russian tank in the village of Lukianivka. Picture: Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP

Notably US President Joe Biden did not set foot in Ukrainian territory when he held talks in Europe two weeks ago. Although, at that point, Russian forces were still attempting to take Ukraine’s capital.

The UK PM visited Kyiv on Saturday for talks with Mr Zelensky as part of a “show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people”, Downing Street said.

London did not announce Mr Johnson’s Ukraine visit ahead of time, with the Prime Minister himself batting away questions about a possible visit in a press conference on Friday.

His trip to the Ukrainian capital followed visits to Kyiv of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday and the visit of the Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer earlier on Saturday.

The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia have also travelled to Kyiv in recent weeks.

— with AFP

Originally published as Russian military losses reach staggering new levels in Ukraine