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One of many destroyed Russian tanks in Ukraine
Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / picture alliance / dpa / AP
According to a senior representative of the US Department of Defense, Russia's armed forces have already lost half of their main battle tanks in the Ukraine war.
Moscow's ground forces in Europe have been "significantly weakened" and there are already "tens of thousands of victims" on the Russian side, Celeste Wallander said.
Wallander is in charge of international security at the United States Department of Defense.
Her rank in the Pentagon is roughly comparable to that of Secretary of State.
Russia has "probably lost half of its main battle tank inventory" - either as a result of hostilities or because Ukraine captured the tanks, she said.
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According to estimates, around 80 percent of the Russian ground forces are now involved in the aggressive war against Ukraine.
However, Wallander warned against underestimating Russia.
Moscow is learning from the previous setbacks and is adapting its tactics in the war, Wallander said on Friday at the event of a think tank in Washington, the Center for New American Security (CNAS).
This was shown by the current fighting in eastern Ukraine.
In addition, Russia continues to have an important arms industry.
Western sanctions have made their production more difficult and slowed down, Wallander said.
Moscow is therefore also relying on cooperation, such as the purchase of drones in Iran, to attack targets in Ukraine.
In addition, Russia still has a fairly significant air force.
"As Russia suffers more losses in Ukraine, it is also learning to adapt," she said.
Meanwhile, Russia has launched a new wave of attacks on its neighbor.
In the capital Kiev, the air alarm was triggered for the fifth time late on Friday evening.
"There is a threat of an attack with drones," said the military administration of the Kiev region.
Iranian-made combat drones were also sighted and shot down over the Mykolaiv and Odessa regions in the south.
yeah/dpa