It’s been 161 days since the war in Ukraine broke out, and Putin is still looking for a significant victory in the conflict. The total conquest of Donbas looks increasingly unlikely. Moscow is having to redeploy troops to stop Ukraine’s offensive in the Herson area.
Russian losses in Ukraine are huge, even if conservative figures are taken into account, and the reinforcements coming to the front are ill-equipped and poorly trained.
According to the Ministry of Defense in Kiev, Moscow’s losses in Ukraine are: 41,350 dead soldiers (the number of wounded is three times higher), 223 aircraft, 191 helicopters, 1,774 tanks, 939 artillery pieces, 4.022 armoured personnel carriers, 15 military ships and boats, 2,922 vehicles, 118 anti-aircraft systems, 259 multiple rocket launchers, 740 drones, 83 platforms used by engineering troops, 180 cruise missiles (shot down by Ukraine) and four Iskander ballistic missile systems.
These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of Aug. 3, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/15Ergb8ONh
– The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) August 3, 2022
All these weapons are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Add to that the loss of ammunition depots, logistics centers, command centers, and supply lines targeted primarily by the HIMARS and M270 systems Ukraine received from Western allies. Kiev is using these extremely valuable systems in a smart way, as I wrote in this article.
Recently, Ukraine completely destroyed an ammunition train on its way to Herson. The railway line linking Herson to Crimea was also taken out of service, according to British intelligence.
Putin’s Russia made new enemies this year
Putin also doesn’t like the fact that Ukraine has started shipping grain by sea again. The export of agricultural products is an important source of income for Kiev’s economy. Recently, a ship full of corn left Odessa for Lebanon. More than 400 million people around the world depend on grain from Ukraine. The countries in the Middle East and Africa where these people live know that it is Russia’s fault that they face food shortages and even famine.
At the same time, a recent study by researchers at Yale University shows that Russia’s economy is severely affected by Western sanctions. In sum, Putin’s war in Ukraine, which should have been a historic moment for the Kremlin leader and Russia, is becoming a growing disaster by the day.