Ukraine War Update: More casualties on both sides and no tanks for Ukraine sums up day 332nd of the conflict.
Despite a new wave of military aid to Kyiv that provides more weapon systems and ammunition for the Ukrainian military, Germany continues to stand as an obstacle to the U.S.’ and West’s willingness to support Ukraine with tanks.
Russian Casualties In Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Russian forces are losing men left and right.
The new year has started in a very bloody fashion for Moscow.
In just three weeks, the Russian forces have lost almost 5,000 men—approximately an entire brigade—and hundreds of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, and other weapon systems.
Footage from the ground visually verifies that Russia has lost at least one S-400 anti-aircraft battery. This is the first known loss of the weapon system.
Overall, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that as of Saturday, Ukrainian forces have killed approximately 120,160 Russian troops (and wounded approximately twice to thrice that number).
Weapons destroyed include: 287 fighter, attack, bomber, and transport jets, 277 attack and transport helicopters, 3,140 tanks, 2,135 artillery pieces, 6,256 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 443 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), 17 boats and cutters, 4,918 vehicles and fuel tanks, 220 anti-aircraft batteries, 1,891 tactical unmanned aerial systems, 193 special equipment platforms, such as bridging vehicles, and four mobile Iskander ballistic missile systems, and 749 cruise missiles shot down by the Ukrainian air defenses.
Lots of Ammunition for Ukraine
The latest U.S. military aid package to Ukraine includes a great amount of ammunition.
To be sure, weapon systems are necessary for the Ukrainian forces, but they need the sufficient ammunition to sustain the fight.
With a price tag of $2.5 billion, the 30th U.S. package of military aid to Ukraine includes the following in terms of ammunition.
-20,000 155mm artillery rounds;
-Approximately 600 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
-95,000 105mm artillery rounds;
-Approximately 11,800 120mm mortar rounds;
-Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
-12 ammunition support vehicles;
-High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
-Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
-Over 3,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
The intensity of the fight often requires the Ukrainian forces to expend a great amount of ammo.
Indeed, on some days, the Ukrainian artillery batteries have been firing more than 6,000 shells in just 24 hours, which would translate in 42,000 artillery shells in a week.
The Netherlands also announced that it would be sending two MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, taking the total of promised Patriot batteries to five (three from the Netherlands and one each from the U.S. and Germany).
Denmark is also sending its entire fleet of 19 CAESAR 155-millimeter self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.
But Ukraine is still waiting on what is probably one of the most important weapon systems it will need for its upcoming counteroffensives: tanks.
Even after a conference attended by 50 NATO members and partners, Berlin still refuses to send the Leopard 2 main battle tank to Ukraine. The German government is also refusing to grant re-export permission to third countries, such as Poland, Finland, or Spain.
Germany wants the U.S. to send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in order to approve the transfer of Leopard 2s.
But the Pentagon doesn’t believe that sending the M1 Abrams to Kyiv would be the best course of action at this moment, citing the complex logistics necessary to support one of the world’s most advanced and capable main battle tanks in combat.
But Ukraine is still in need of advanced tanks to kick the Russian forces out of the country.
Any delay is only killing more people.
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Expert Biography: A 19FortyFive Defense and National Security Columnist, Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. He is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in Strategy and Cybersecurity at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
