Russia sustained significant losses in the past 24 hours, losing 194 vehicles and 64 artillery systems in its ongoing war with Ukraine.
The figures, which were released by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, show that the Russian army lost 124 fuel tanks between November 13 and 14, and also lost 51 armored fighting vehicles and 19 tanks.
This is the highest number of vehicle losses for Russia in the past month of fighting.
A Russian T-80BVM tank fires towards Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location in Ukraine, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia sustained heavy vehicle losses in the past 24 hours.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/Associated Press
Newsweek could not independently verify these figures, and Russia does not publish its own military losses.
The data does not show where or how Russia sustained these losses. However, in recent days there has been a new Russian surge into the region with the aid of 50,000 new troops sent to the Kursk zone.
Many of these troops have been recruited from North Korea to help bolster Russian support in the Kursk region without drawing troops away from other critical war-zones, but questions have arisen around how experienced these troops are, and whether they are ready for combat.
Drone footage supposedly taken in the Kursk region this week—which could not be independently verified by Newsweek—has shown Russian vehicles driving into a war zone that is being referred to as a “meat grinder,” as the footage shows vehicle after vehicle being blown up one by one.
If this footage is accurate, then it may explain the staggering losses faced by Russian troops in the past 24 hours.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been contacted for comment.
Per Newsweek reporting, Russia is embarking on this push in the hopes of maintaining control over the Kursk region before Donald Trump takes office, as it is hoping a Trump ceasefire will result in the region becoming permanently Russian land.
Russian servicemen of an artillery unit of Pressa (Press) group of Akhmat special forces are seen amid Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, in Kursk region. Russia has supplied 50,000 new troops to the Kursk region in recent days.
Sergey Bobylev/Sputnik via AP
Trump called Putin to ask him not to escalate the war any further, however, his nomination of Tulsi Gabbard for director of Intelligence has made supporters of Ukraine nervous.
A spokesperson for Donald Trump and Tulsi Gabbard have both been contacted for comment via email outside of working hours.
Gabbard was accused in 2022 by Senator Mitt Romney of “parroting Russian propaganda” after she made comments on social media and Tucker Carlson‘s Fox News show about the U.S. funding bio labs in Ukraine.
The U.S. does fund bio labs in Ukraine, however, her detractors said at the time that she insinuated the U.S. is also funding bio-weapons in Ukraine, as she stated on social media: “These pathogens know no borders, if they are inadvertently or purposely breached or compromised, they will quickly spread all throughout Europe, the United States and the rest of the world causing untold suffering and death.”
In 2022, responding to these comments, then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “This is preposterous. It’s the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked, and an example of the types of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.”
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