As the war in Ukraine continues into an 11th day, reports of military equipment losses have flooded social media with Russian forces said to losing huge numbers of tanks, aircraft, helicopters and armoured transports.
Despite initial fears of a quick Ukrainian capitulation, Ukraine has inflicted heavy losses on Russian invaders, managing to take 750 pieces of advanced military equipment off of the battlefield.
Staunch resistance has seen 108 Russian tanks destroyed, captured or abandoned with 50 ending up in Ukrainian hands.
Ukrainian media has also reported over 11,000 Russian death since the beginning of the invasion – over 1,000 deaths each day.
Vladimir Putin’s desire to occupy Ukraine with a swift victory has been scuppered by the losses with a massive 40km convoy of military vehicles meant to overwhelm Kyiv being stopped by embarrassing logistical failures.
Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by the Ukrainian forces on the side of a road in Luhansk region of east Ukraine
A Russian Ka-52 ‘Alligator’ helicopter gunship is seen in a field near Kyiv after a forced landing on the first day of the invasion
A Russian armored personnel carrier burns amid damaged and abandoned light utility vehicles after fighting in Kharkiv
Russian pilots were filmed pleading they were ‘following orders’ as they were captured after nine aircraft were shot down over Ukraine yesterday
Destroyed Russian Army multiple rocket launchers with the letter “Z” painted on their sides in Kharkiv
Destroyed Russian armoured vehicles in the city of Bucha, west of Kyiv, on March 4
Western nations have been providing equipment to Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24 with manned portable air defence systems (MANPADS) proving particularly successfully in downing aircraft and preventing Putin’s forces from establishing air superiority.
The Ukrainian Army has reportedly downed 10 Russian helicopters and 8 planes in 11 days.
Saturday saw heavy losses for Russian aerial forces with as many as eight aircraft, as well as multi-role, strike and close air support aircraft and a drone taken down.
Experts have suggested that Russian air forces are struggling due to a lack of precision guided munitions on their aircraft means that planes and helicopters have to fly lower to attack using less advanced weapons – leaving them vulnerable to anti-air attacks.
Their losses, claimed by Ukrainian military sources, provide further evidence of Russia’s failure to gain the air superiority that Vladimir Putin thought would be achieved on the first day of the war.
The Russian President’s much-vaunted air force is still being picked off in ambushes by highly mobile Ukrainian air defence units equipped with the latest shoulder-fired rocket launchers.
Footage of a Russian Mi-24 or Mi-35 attack helicopter being shot down using a shoulder-mounted Polish PPZR Piorun missile in Kozarovychi in the Kyiv region went viral on social media on Saturday.
Ukrainian volunteer forces stand atop an abandoned T-90A Russian tank
Another Russian T-90A tank had ended up in a river as Ukrainian resistance against Putin’s invasion force intensified
The burning wrecks of Russian aircraft shot down in Ukraine. The pilots were detained by soldiers and civilians
A Mi-24/35 ‘flying tank’ attack helicopter was downed yesterday in the Kyiv Oblast by a shoulder-mounted MANPADS
Experts have suggested that Russian air forces are struggling due to a lack of precision guided munitions on their aircraft means that planes and helicopters have to fly lower to attack using less advanced weapons – making them more vulnerable to ground defences
A man walks by a destroyed Russian military multiple rocket launcher vehicle on the outskirts of Kharkiv
Russian infantry mobility vehicles like this GAZ Tigr destroyed as a result of fight in Kharkiv are in short supply in Ukraine
The defensive move killed the onboard Russian crew and Ukrainian cheers could be heard after they downed the attack vehicle.
In the incident pictured above, the Ukrainians are thought to have used a specialist short-range weapon system, the MANPADS, which is ideal for targeting low-flying helicopters.
It is not just advanced equipment that Russian forces are losing. The invading army has lost 42 personnel carriers and 224 troop carriers since entering Ukraine and is now reportedly drafting in civilian vehicles to bolster their transports.
As Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border in the first months of 2022, President Zelensky asked Ukraine’s citizens to prepare for guerrilla warfare by learning to make and throw Molotov cocktails – makeshift firebombs which are adept at destroying vehicles.
A Su-25 attack aircraft bearing the Ukrainian insignia was downed in the conflict which started on February 24
The Ukrainian weapon of choice so far have been Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS) – seen here in the hands of Russian troops
Footage also emerged of a Russian pilot wearing a blue jumpsuit and a bloodstained T-shirt being treated for a head wound after he crashed in a field.
With a bandage around his head, he nodded wearily as Ukrainian troops asked him questions.
Vladimir Putin came under pressure from his own soldiers to stop the war yesterday.
At a press conference in Kyiv, captured Russian troops condemned the mission and called on their fellow citizens to rally against the conflict.
It comes after footage showed two pilots ejecting from an aircraft – thought to be an Su-30 – after it was shot down over the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Saturday.
Ukrainian forces have also seen losses with 41 tanks, 8 aircraft, 60 vehicles and 29 anti-tank missiles being lost from their arsenal.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of defence staff, told BBC Sunday Morning it’s not inevitable that Russia will win war in Ukraine.
‘I think we’ve seen a Russian invasion that is not going well. We’re also seeing a resistance by Ukraine, both its armed forces and its people’
