Russian forces lost more equipment in Ukraine in October that in any month over the last two years of the full-scale invasion, according to latest analysis.
Since the start of the war on February 24, 2022, the Oryx website has tracked Russian equipment losses using still or video imagery. It says the level of proof required means the real amount of equipment destroyed “is significantly higher.”
The figures for last month show that Russian equipment taken out of action has spiked compared with the rest of the year and most of the war as Moscow’s forces continue to make incremental gains on the front line at a high cost.
Oryx’s data analyzed by independent Russian outlet Agentstvo found that Russia had 695 units of equipment, destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured in October.
Among the lost equipment were 253 infantry fighting vehicles, 103 tanks and 41 armored personnel carriers. There were also four aircraft, comprising of two Sukhoi Su-25 and Su-34 fighter planes, along with a Mi-28 helicopter. Newsweek has been unable to verify these figures and has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
The last time it was higher was 1,032 units lost in October 2022, after Ukraine had launched a counteroffensive the previous month that led to a Russian retreat from Kherson and Kharkiv and sparked optimism at Ukraine’s ability to fight Moscow’s aggression.
The month the Ukrainian counteroffensive started in September 2022 saw the highest tally of Russian equipment losses of 1,179 units linked to the retreat from Kharkiv.
Despite the high losses in the last month, Russian forces continue to make incremental gains, especially in the Donetsk region, where it last month captured the town of Selydove. Vuk Vuksanovic, an associate at the London School of Economics’ think tank LSE IDEAS, told Newsweek that this showed Moscow’s battlefield momentum.
“Instead of trying to gain new territory rapidly, the Russians engaged in a patient, slow, grinding campaign where they knew that their preponderance in artillery and firepower and Ukrainian demographic deficit would sooner or later result in the collapse of the Ukrainian line,” Vuksanovic said.
Russian forces have made their biggest advances in Ukraine in a year, capturing 75 square miles between October 28 and November 3 and 66 square miles the previous week, according to Agentstvo.
“After the initial nine months of Russian blunders that resulted in a catastrophic pullback from the Kharkiv area and a more orderly retreat from Kherson, everything that the Russians have been doing ever since has led to this point.” added Vuksanovic.
There are higher estimates by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry of Russian losses whose figures last week that claimed Russia had lost 903 armored fighting vehicles in October, the highest monthly total since March 2022.
Oryx’s figures cited by Agentsvo also showed that Ukraine had lost 276 units of equipment in October, including 47 armored personnel carriers, 28 infantry fighting vehicles, 21 tanks and one aircraft (Sukhoi 24M).
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