(NewsSpace.com) – It’s been nearly 16 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, and it doesn’t look like there is any resolution in the foreseeable future. Ukraine has recently launched a counteroffensive, and officials say the country has recently reclaimed several villages from Russian forces. However, it’s not without casualties, and some of those losses are not just troops, but valuable military equipment.
Ukraine Fighting With NATO-Supplied Equipment
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hasn’t been shy about calling on the West to provide his country with the aid necessary to fight off Russia since the start of the invasion. He has requested tanks, fighter jets, ammunition, missiles, and air defense systems.
After a lot of back and forth, the West finally relented on sending tanks to Ukraine, agreeing in January to deliver 321 armored vehicles consisting of Leopard 2, Challenger 2, M1, and M2s. In March, the first vehicles arrived, and in April, the Pentagon confirmed to The War Zone that Ukraine had received the M2 Bradleys, though it wouldn’t say how many.
Russia Takes Tanks as Trophies
Russia is now claiming to have captured armored vehicles that Ukraine lost in the midst of battle. According to reports, open intelligence analysis determined that troops in the war-torn country had lost 16 Bradley Infantry vehicles to a combination of damage, destruction, and abandonment.
Footage allegedly taken by Russian troops shows several service members inspecting the vehicles, calling them their “trophies.” They even claim some were in operating order. While the Russian Ministry of Defence has bragged about the incident, the video is unverified and impossible to prove.
More Losses
Since the war’s inception, there have been a significant number of troop losses on both sides. Though neither side is being particularly forthcoming with numbers, it’s estimated that Russia has lost upwards of 20,000 men in the battle. On Tuesday, reports surfaced saying a prominent official, Major-General Sergei Goryachev, who served as Russia’s 35th Army’s chief of staff, had perished in a missile strike. He is one of several top-ranking generals to lose his life in battle.
On the other side, EU intelligence estimates that Ukraine has lost fewer than 15,000 troops. Tens of thousands more on both sides have suffered injuries and Ukraine has lost many civilians to the battle, as well.
Other intelligence officials believe the number impacted — whether through death, injury, or displacement — is in the hundreds of thousands. It’s likely that there won’t be a clear picture of all the damage done until the war ends, if even then.
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