Ukraine Army Successfully Eliminates 630 Russian Soldiers In One Day; 34 Tanks, AFVs Destroyed

Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces, on the side of a road in the eastern Lugansk region, where Russian forces control most of the city of Severodonetsk AFP / Anatolii Stepanov

KEY POINTS

Russia lost 630 personnel in Ukraine between Tuesday and Wednesday
It also lost 10 tanks and 24 armored fighting vehicles, among other pieces of military equipment
Russia has suffered 82,710 casualties since it invaded Ukraine in February

Russia lost 630 soldiers, 10 tanks and 24 armored fighting vehicles (AFV) over the course of a single day this week, according to data provided by the Ukrainian military.

Russia has suffered 82,710 combat losses in total among its personnel since it invaded Ukraine in late February, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a casualty report released Wednesday.

Losses also included 2,871 tanks and 5,797 AFVs, among other pieces of military equipment.

In its previous casualty report released Tuesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russia had lost 82,080 personnel, 2,861 tanks and 5,773 AFVs by that time.

Most of Russia's recent losses were sustained in the direction of Avdiivka, Bakhmut and Lyman, cities located in Ukraine's partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Winston Churchill

Total combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Nov 16: pic.twitter.com/VzxAEuOkCn
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) November 16, 2022

Russia's last official death toll from the invasion of Ukraine, which was provided by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in September, claimed that at least 5,937 of its soldiers have died in the war.

Gen. Mark Milley, the most senior military officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, said earlier this month that the number of Russian casualties in the conflict was already "well over" 100,000.

Ukraine has "probably" suffered a similar number of losses, according to Milley.

"There has been a tremendous amount of suffering, human suffering," the official said.

Russia claimed it was able to draft 300,000 reservists following Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement of troop mobilization in September, but the country has been accused of rushing untrained and ill-equipped soldiers to Ukraine.

"They are giving them at best basics and at worst nothing and throwing them into combat, which suggests that these guys [Russian soldiers] are just literally cannon fodder," William Alberque from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a United Kingdom-based think tank, was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

Russia's losses have prompted public outcry and criticism of military commanders from surviving soldiers and family members of recently mobilized troops, who claimed their units were led to slaughter in poorly planned operations.

More than 3,500 Russian soldiers have reportedly requested to surrender to Ukraine's Armed Forces as the war drags into its ninth month.