As of: February 18, 2024, 9:05 p.m
By: Mark Stoffers
Comments
Press
Split
In the fight against Russia, Ukraine probably has around a thousand active tanks.
However, the number is not enough to support all combat units.
Kiev – Russia's offensive in the Ukraine war appears to be gaining momentum despite heavy losses.
After prolonged fighting, Vladimir Putin's army was apparently able to capture the strategically important city of Avdiivka, which is said to have caused a chaotic retreat for Ukraine.
Ukraine is in a tank dilemma: as many vehicles as before Russia's invasion
But the bad news doesn't stop as Kiev is stuck in a tank dilemma in the Ukraine war.
“Overall, we estimate that two years after the full invasion, the number of [main battle tanks] in service in the Ukrainian armed forces is close to prewar levels,” reports the
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
in London.
What initially sounds like good news for Ukraine's fighting ability, however, has a catch.
Even if, after almost two years of fighting against Putin's troops, Ukraine should still have as many active tanks at its disposal as before the Russian attack in February 2022, this number probably does not meet the requirements of the current situation in the Ukraine war.
High tank losses in the Ukrainian war: Kiev needs around 3,000 tanks for the fight against Russia
Finally, the size of Ukraine's ground forces has doubled since 2022.
Today there are about a hundred brigades of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Territorial Army and National Guard, each with at least 2,000 men and numerous vehicles, according to the US news magazine
Forbes
.
Additional reactive armor: an M1 Abrams main battle tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
© Screenshot Telegram@ClashReport
Although Ukraine was able to at least maintain its overall tank inventory despite losing around 700 tanks in the fight against Russia, according to
Oryx
, the need for tanks is much greater today than in 2022. If each brigade had a single battalion with 31 tanks , Ukraine would need more than 3,000 tanks.
Judging by the current numbers, the math doesn't add up.
My news
Bulwark against Putin fallen: Chaos retreat from Avdiivka - Ukrainians probably let soldiers read back
Payment card for asylum seekers: Habeck causes the next dispute - Kubicki threatens to break the traffic light
Putin shocks Munich for the second time: The Siko of the perplexed must become a turning point! read
2 hours ago
Navalny is dead: paramedic reports bruises and unusual readings
Navalny dead according to Russian authorities: First report on possible cause of death read
“It had to happen”: Putin dictated Navalny’s prison camp torture reading, according to Moscow insiders
High tank losses in the Ukraine war: around 700 vehicles destroyed since the attack by Russia
Because Ukraine does not have such a large number of tanks.
If you subtract 700 losses from a pre-war strength of 1,000 tanks and then add 500 tanks that the Ukrainians captured from the Russians, as well as several hundred former Soviet tanks that Ukrainian technicians recovered from long-term storage, and another 600 tanks that Ukraine received so far from their allies, this results in a current inventory of around 2,000 tanks.
If you halve this number to take into account the large number of tanks that go through the workshops away from the front for repairs and upgrades, you get the number calculated by the
IISS
.
In the fight against Russia: Kiev needs more tanks in the Ukraine war
According to the
IISS
, Ukrainian efforts to raise additional combat troops have outpaced the supply of equipment, leaving some units in the Ukraine war nowhere near full-strength.
As the fight against Russia enters its third year, Ukraine will need more tanks.
And since the Ukrainian industry is still not producing new tanks, it will have to get them from its allies.
While Russia is constantly supplying supplies for Putin's bloody tank tactics, Ukraine is stalling significantly when it comes to new battle tanks.
The tank deliveries - such as the Leopard-2 model - from various NATO member states such as Germany are not coming at the speed that they are needed in Ukraine.
However, the lack of aid to Ukraine, which the Republicans in the US Congress have been blocking for weeks, is particularly serious.
The US has not sent any new vehicles to support Kiev in the Ukraine war for almost two months.
And if the Ukraine aid doesn't pass the House of Representatives, the 31 M-1 tanks may remain the only M-1s Ukraine ever gets.