Russia loses half of its combat capability: UK assesses Russia's losses in war against Ukraine

This was reported by the Financial Times with reference to the head of Britain’s Armed Forces, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.

“Russia has lost nearly half the combat effectiveness of its army,” Radakin said. “Last year it fired 10mn artillery shells but at best can produce 1mn shells a year. It has lost 2,500 tanks and at best can produce 200 [new] tanks a year,” he said.

Britain's military chief also stressed that it is wrong to limit Ukrainian offensive actions to a certain period of time, as a counter-offensive is a set of measures.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin rejected suggestions that Ukraine’s counter-offensive was proceeding slowly, arguing that the pushback against Russia was “never a singular act”, and that Kyiv’s military strategy to “starve, stretch and strike” was gradually breaking down Russian defensive lines.

At present, the large number of Russian minefields, the lack of adequate air protection for Ukrainian forces and the insufficient supply of necessary military equipment make it difficult for the Defence Forces to advance.

Russian losses

Over the last day, Ukraine’s Defence Forces targeted 4 ammunition depots, 18 artillery systems and 2 Russian electronic warfare stations.

In total, from February 24, 2022 to July 5, 2023, the Russian Federation lost 231,700 soldiers, 4,288 artillery systems and 3,614 operational and tactical drones in Ukraine.

Some fact about the Ukrainian counteroffensive

On June 4, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a counteroffensive on the southern frontline, continuing a series of offensives near Bakhmut and in other directions.

On June 11, the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced the liberation of Blahodatne, Neskuchne, and Makarivka settlements, near the border of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

On the morning of June 12, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that the Ukrainian state flag was raised again over Storozhove, Donetsk region. She said that over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had liberated 7 settlements and advanced 6.5 kilometers.

On June 24, the eastern grouping of Ukrainian troops launched an offensive in several other areas simultaneously.

On June 26, Hanna Maliar reported that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have advanced 1 to 2 kilometers on the eastern frontline in the past week. During the offensive in the southern direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated 130 square kilometers. On the same day Maliar also said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had de-occupied the village of Rivnopil, Donetsk region. It is located in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region. The Russian army occupied the village in March 2022.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace stated that Ukraine has already liberated more territory as part of the summer counteroffensive campaign than Russia had captured during the entire winter offensive.

But Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that the already liberated settlements were not the "main event" but rather the prelude to a major counteroffensive.

Specialists of the Institute for the Study of War believe that the Russian military is likely to bring additional forces to Bakhmut from other directions in response to Ukrainian offensive operations in the area.

On the morning of July 3, Hanna Maliar reported that the Defense Forces advanced in the southern and eastern directions. Over the past week, the Ukrainian military liberated about 38 square kilometers. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are advancing on the flanks and effectively destroying the Russians in the Bakhmut direction, but the situation is tense.