As an army power and always emphasizing the strength of the tank – armored force, the Russian Army currently has the largest fleet of main battle tanks (MBTs) in the world.
In the initial stages of the current confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian Army’s tanks and armored troops sustained significant damage.
The Russian Army initially misjudged the Ukrainian Army’s resistance and anti-tank capabilities, especially their use of contemporary anti-tank weaponry like the American Javelin or the British NLAW.
Due to their frequent vertical formations, lack of infantry assistance, and absence of drones flying above them, the convoys of Russian tanks and motor vehicles make it simple for the enemy to turn them into targets. Mobile tank destroyers from Ukraine with high-performance, compact anti-tank weapons.
The Russian Army suffered heavy losses in battle tanks of all sorts in the early days of the conflict.
Entering phase 2, the Russian Army revised its strategy, forbidding tanks from charging forward in favor of a massive artillery barrage that softened the battlefield before putting the tank up to explore.
When the tank detects any residual Ukrainian Army points of fire, it pulls back and continues to utilize artillery bombardment until it is safe to continue raising the tank.
With such a strategy, the Ukrainian Army also lost the chance to engage and destroy Russian tanks with anti-tank guns.
How many tanks has the Russian Army actually lost since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started?
Our preliminary research indicates that the Russian Army lost a total of 450 tanks permanently between February 24 and July 2. Each damaged Russian tank is only counted if a photograph of it being destroyed is captured back at the scene; our study does not use data provided by Russia or Ukraine but just images captured on the battlefield. This means that our numbers could not be as high as they are.
It is impossible to fix the so-called permanent loss, such as tank damage or other losses.
Up to 242 T-72 tanks were lost, making them the most well-equipped tank in the Russian army. The more expensive T-80 lost 69 units, and the most recent T-90 lost 8 units, including one technologically advanced T-90M.
The T-62 and T-64 were the oldest tanks in action, losing 131 units; now, the Luhansk and Donetsk militias can use these outdated tanks that are fully outfitted. Additionally, the militia frequently served as the attack’s front line and took heavy losses.
