Russia's Drive In One Battlefront Has Cost It A Staggering 1,800 Combat Vehicles

Russia's offensive in the Poprovsk region has come at a cost of over 1,800 combat vehicles. ANATOLII STEPANOV via Getty ImagesRussia has lost five divisions' worth of tanks and vehicles in the Pokrovsk region since last October.The losses occurred during Russian offensives to seize Avdiivka and now Poprovsk.Russia's drive is coming at a massive and possibly unsustainable cost.Russian forces have reportedly lost nearly 2,000 armored vehicles, tanks, and heavy equipment since launching its offensive in eastern Ukraine last October, an open-source researcher found.In February, Russia seized the town of Avdiivka, a longtime Ukrainian stronghold, after a monthslong campaign that contributed to "some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far," according to British military intelligence.Moscow's losses — both in equipment and personnel — only continued to grow as it advanced in the western Donetsk region, an onslaught against Ukraine's defended positions that contributed to the heavy toll in September; a US official recently said that month saw the highest Russian casualties in the entire war.In early October, two key Ukrainian frontline towns, Vuhledar and Hrodivka, fell to Russia during its advance toward Pokrovsk, a strategic city serving as a road and rail hub to supply Ukrainian military outposts.Despite the heavy equipment losses, Russian forces have yet to make concrete tactical gains in the region, only advancing about 25 miles toward the key Ukrainian city.A new report by the Institute for the Study of War said the losses amount to at least five divisions' worth of combat vehicles, citing an open-source X account tracking visually confirmed Russian vehicle and equipment losses.Russian forces have also lost rockets, anti-aircraft systems, and drones in its offensive along the eastern front.