**Ukraine Claims to Have Destroyed Over 1,000 Russian Tanks This Year Alone**
In a recent statement, Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that the country’s armed forces have hit over 1,159 Russian tanks since the beginning of 2025. This figure is part of a larger trend of Russian tank losses in Ukraine, with estimates suggesting that Moscow has lost thousands of armored vehicles over the past two and a half years.
According to Ukraine’s General Staff, Russia has lost a staggering 10,832 tanks since the start of the full-scale invasion. However, it’s essential to note that these figures are estimates and may not reflect the actual number of tanks destroyed or damaged. The discrepancy in numbers is due in part to differing definitions of what constitutes a “tank,” with Ukraine’s General Staff grouping main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles together.
Independent analysts have also weighed in on the matter, with Sascha Bruchmann, visiting research fellow for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), suggesting that Ukraine’s official count may be misleading. Bruchmann noted that Ukraine’s daily reports often combine main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in their tallies.
**Russia’s Tank Fleet: A Dwindling Resource**
At the beginning of its full-scale invasion, Russia had an estimated 3,330 operational tanks, according to the Military Balance 2021 database. However, with the war dragging on far beyond Moscow’s initial projections, Russia has been forced to utilize thousands of tanks in storage. A September 2023 report by the Institut Action Résilience estimated that Russia possesses around 7,000 tanks in storage.
While it is possible for Russia to replace lost tanks, experts warn that the quality of these replacements is often diminished. Retired military officer and defense expert Viktor Kevliuk told the Kyiv Independent last year that the capabilities of Russian industry to produce modern tanks are “extremely limited,” with only 100-200 tanks per year being produced.
In contrast, the bulk of tanks supplied to the front are restored machines from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. This raises serious questions about Russia’s ability to maintain a functional tank fleet in the face of continued losses in Ukraine.
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