Across the Internet, it isn’t all that difficult to find images of Russian tanks that were destroyed in the fighting in Ukraine.
Thanks to social media and the proliferation of camera phones, it is easier than ever to snap a photo and post it to the world. Such images are proof of the setbacks the Kremlin has faced since it launched its unprovoked and unwarranted invasion back in February.
Instead of images of the tanks rolling through Ukraine’s streets in victory parades – which was almost certainly what Vladimir Putin and his sycophant supporters expected – the ruined hulks of the tanks are what are increasingly seen.
Dead Tanks
Last week, Reuters compiled a photo album that very much highlighted how “Ukraine is becoming a scrapheap for Russian tanks.” It showed scores of rusting hulks left to rot on the open fields, as well as various armored vehicles that have been towed to central locations that now resemble a military junkyard. Multiple images showed the Ukrainian fighters taking “selfies” atop destroyed Russian tanks – posing like a hunter over big game.
Russia now seems in full retreat, and many tanks and other equipment aren’t being destroyed – they’re being abandoned.
Russia is Arming Ukraine
It was also earlier this month that the Ukrainian military’s southern operational command announced that its forces in the south had destroyed 31 Russian tanks and one multiple-rocket launcher. The total losses of Russian tanks destroyed remain somewhat of a mystery, but current estimates are that as many as 2,200 tanks and nearly 4,500 armored combat vehicles (ACVs) have been destroyed.
Whatever the actual number, Moscow’s arsenal has been impacted by the losses. Ukraine has certainly continued to be graveyard of Russian tanks.
But another side of the story is that Russia is essentially arming Ukraine! Russian forces in Kharkiv simply abandoned their tanks, armored vehicles, howitzers, and ammunition during their retreat from the city last month. The UK intelligence community (IC) has estimated that Kyiv’s forces had captured at least 400 main battle tanks (MBTs), as well as 650 other armored vehicles.
“Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 7 October 2022,” UK’s Ministry of Defence announced via social media last week, noting how much of the captured equipment is now being used by Ukrainian forces.
Put(in) to Good Use
According to The Wall Street Journal, this haul of military hardware is now playing a critical role in helping the Ukrainians retake parts of the eastern Donetsk region, including the town of Lyman, and push further east into nearby Luhansk. Kyiv has regained more than 4,000 square miles of land in the east over the past month.
One Ukrainian Army battalion, the Carpathian Sich, had reportedly seized 10 modern T-80 tanks and five 2S5 Giatsint 152-mm self-propelled howitzers after it entered the town of Izyum last month. To date, Ukraine has also claimed to have captured 460 Russian MBTs, 92 self-propelled howitzers, 448 infantry fighting vehicles, 195 armored fighting vehicles, and 44 multiple-launch rocket systems.
In addition to what Ukraine has obtained from Russia, Kyiv has continued to receive military aid and other weapons packages from Western countries, including the U.S., which announced a $625 million security assistance package earlier this month.
Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade reportedly targeted a column from Russia’s 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade, including multiple T-80BV tanks, a BTR-82A, and trucks, with artillery fire in Kharkiv Oblast. Image: Screengrab VIA Twitter.
“The United States will continue to consult closely with Ukraine to meet its evolving battlefield requirements in coordination with our allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the capabilities it needs,” Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Laura Cooper told reporters at a briefing last week. “As President Biden has said, the United States will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people and provide them with the security assistance they need to defend themselves for as long as it takes.”
Biography and Expertise: A Senior Editor for 1945, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,000 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
