During almost two years of full-scale war against Ukraine, Russian troops lost thousands of equipment units. The Forbes concluded that the Russian army might be entirely out of tanks and armoured vehicles (APV).
The number of Russian tanks is steadily decreasing
The publication writes that the aggressor country entered the war with 2,987 tanks.
According to the publication, during almost 23 months of fierce fighting, the soldiers of the Russian Federation lost at least 2,619 tanks, which independent analysts confirm.
There are 1,725 destroyed, 145 damaged, 205 abandoned and 544 captured T-55, T-62, T-72, T-80 and T-90, the media reports.
However, AFU General Staff claims that 6,075 enemy tanks have been destroyed on the morning of January 14.
According to journalists, if the Russian army did not have options for replacing military losses, it would have only 368 tanks now, which is a meagre number, considering the AFU's reserves can number about a thousand units of equipment.
The Uralvagonzavod factory in southern Russia, which manufactures new T-90Ms, plus four other facilities that repair and modernize old tanks that have been moldering in storage. Some for decades.
Official Moscow assures that the Russian soldiers received 1,500 new and modernised tanks thanks to active industrial efforts. However, journalists urge not to trust these loud statements.
Russia might have fewer than 2,400 active tanks. Many fewer, Forbes writes.
Interestingly, the French intelligence group ARI assures that the Russian industry produces only 390 tanks yearly.
It could build or repair only 780 tanks during the past two years.
The situation with the Russian APV number is also critical
According to journalists, the Russian army is losing at least as many APVs as the Russian industry builds new ones or takes them out of long-term storage.
The APVs may be the enemy's Achilles' heel.
When entering the war, the Russians had about 4,000 BMP-1, armed with BMP-2 and the latest BMP-3.
Independent analysts claim that the Armed Forces of Ukraine could destroy half of such vehicles.
