Russia Has Lost 2,000 Tanks in Ukraine: Let Us Show You How They Die

Ukraine Just Keeps Killing More and More Russian Tanks: Video footage shared by the Ukrainian military on Facebook this week shows artillery strikes from the 24^th Mechanized Brigade on several Russian positions. The video footage also shows a Russian Soviet-era BMP-1 tank being destroyed by Ukrainian forces.

The clip was reposted by Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, on Twitter. The footage appears to have been recorded by Ukrainian rotary-blade unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and shows a Russian position surrounded by trees between two farm fields being hit by artillery strikes.

Additional footage shows the remains of the Russian position after the strike, including the warped and destroyed Russian tank.

The brigade, which is the oldest in the nation’s military to remain in continuous service in the Ground Forces, was first formed in 1918 during the Russian Civil War. While the brigade is based in Yavoriv in western Ukraine, that doesn’t necessarily indicate where the strike occurred.

The original post by the 24^th Brigade doesn’t offer any insight into where the strikes took place, either. Assuming that the footage is recent, however, the strike was likely to have taken place in southern or eastern Ukraine given the heightened conflict in these regions.

“The 24th brigade named after King Danylo is relentlessly destroying the enemy,” the post reads, per Google Translate.

Video of artillery strikes by Ukraine’s 24th Mechanized Brigade on Russian positions. It shows a destroyed Russian BMP-1.https://t.co/QyVjG6PAcf pic.twitter.com/QbJUfISggZ

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) September 6, 2022

“A destroyed enemy dugout, combat vehicles, and a dozen enemies were added to the general treasury of Victory. Those who remained were forced to flee in panic.”

Russia Preparing to Manufacture More Soviet-Style Tanks

Struggling under the weight of Western sanctions, Russia has relied heavily on its stock of Soviet-era weapons and tanks and continues to struggle to manufacture more advanced vehicles as a result of a shortage of parts.

Ukraine revealed last week how Russia had lost more than 2,000 tanks since the beginning of the conflict, forcing the country to take desperate measures to resupply its troops in Ukraine. As well as refurbishing old Soviet tanks, Russia is reportedly considering manufacturing brand-new Soviet-style tanks to deploy on the battlefield.

Ukraine has also depended on the same Soviet-era tanks throughout the conflict. In April, the Czech Republic announced plans to transfer 56 upgraded BMP-1 armored tanks to Ukraine. Ukraine’s BMP-1 tanks received significant upgrades before being transferred to the country, with modifications made in Germany related to the fuel tanks which were originally built into the doors at the rear of the vehicle.

The modifications meant that the vehicles met Western safety standards, but this doesn’t mean that they are substantially less vulnerable to attacks from modern weapons systems – as demonstrated by this recent footage.

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.