The Clock Is Ticking As Ukraine Destroys More Russian Vehicles, Faster. - Forbes

On each of 705 days since Russia widened its war on Ukraine, Russian forces on average have lost—destroyed, abandoned or captured—19 tanks, fighting vehicles, howitzers or other heavy weapons.

On Saturday, they lost at least 54. Another 16 were damaged. It was one of the worst days of the war for Moscow.

Open-source analyst Andrew Perpetua, who tallies vehicles losses and publishes a daily list, noted the tragic record on Sunday, after adding up Saturday’s losses. “It’s the most I've ever found in a day,” he wrote.

Ukrainian losses were light: nine vehicles destroyed, abandoned or captured and other 21 damaged.

Worse for the Russians, their losses included 16 tanks and a staggering 29 fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, while Ukraine’s losses mostly were trucks and civilian vehicles the military apparently was using for supply runs. The Ukrainians lost two tanks and a single APC.

The obvious question is whether this loss-rate is sustainable for the Kremlin. The obvious answer is: no. As production of new armored vehicles continues to lag, the Russians still mostly ride in older Cold War-vintage vehicles they’ve pulled out of long-term storage. And these reserves are finite.

So far this year the Russians are losing more and more vehicles, faster than ever. For example the monthly loss-rate for BMPs is approaching 400 (while production of new BMPs remained steady at 30- 40/month).
Five times the rate observed in 2022 and 2023. At the current rate, Russia doesn’t have a two-year reserve of fighting vehicles, but maybe a six-month reserve. The uptick
in losses—to levels that are far beyond sustainable for Russian forces—also is evident among tanks and APCs

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