Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday, March 2 released official estimates of heavy Russian Federation (RF) losses, particularly in personnel and key heavy weapons system.
Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) forces killed more than 5,480 RF soldiers from 24.02 to 02.03, the estimate said. Equipment losses included “up to” 211 tanks, 862 other armored vehicles, 85 artillery systems, 40 rocket artillery systems, nine air defense systems, 30 combat jets, 31 helicopters, 355 trucks and light vehicles, 2 speedboats, 60 fuel carriers, and three UAVs, the estimate said.
Other Wednesday reports appeared to confirm RF equipment losses at at least some locations. In Kharkiv Region high-profile reporter Yury Butusov posted images and text describing an intense battle between two battalion-sized elements of the RF’s 200th Mechanized Brigade, and a UAF mechanized infantry battalion armed with Javelin missiles.
According to Butusov the RF forces suffered losses and took flight, leaving six undamaged RF T-80BVM tanks in UAF hands. He published an image of himself standing in front of one of them.
Images from vicinity of the village of Trostyanets, Sumy Region, showed abandoned RF combat vehicles including four tanks, two armored personnel carriers, and a pair of destroyed trucks. According to a statement by Sumy Region administration, during fierce battles on March 1, UAF forces near the village of Lebedinschine 60 tanks, 4 anti-aircraft systems, 30 pieces of tube artillery and 20 pieces of rocket artillery were destroyed. In nearby Akhtyrsk , according to an unconfirmed statement, UAF forces destroyed around 200 armored vehicles, half of them tanks.
Were the official Sumy figures to be proved accurate, it would mark one of the worst RF defeats in the invasion they began a week ago. Media and local fighters on Wednesday published images from the center of the village of Bucha, north of Kyiv and site of an Tuesday artillery ambush of approaching RF forces, including Chechens. At the time UAF officials claimed almost total destruction of an RF vehicle column.
Pictures published on Wednesday showed at least 20 smashed vehicles, including tanks, and the UAF controlling the village.
