While Ukraine is reported to have lost a quarter of its Leopard Tanks and Bradley AFVs besides artillery guns during its June offensive, Russia has increased deliveries of military hardware to its forces during the last couple of months.
In mid-June, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk requested Germany to send more combat vehicles. "The Ukrainian army urgently needs more western battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles,” Melnyk told German news outlet Der Tagesspiegel.
He said the Bundeswehr is capable of sending more than the 18 Leopard 2A6 tanks that have already been delivered from its stock of more than 300. According to Melnyk, the current number could be “tripled”.
According to a study by Spiegel, however, only 130 of the 300 German Leopard 2s are operational today.
Ukraine has also received 36 Leopard 2A4s from Poland, Spain, Norway and Canada.
Independent monitoring organization Oryx claims that four Leopard 2A6s and three Leopard 2A4s – or about 13% of the Leopard tanks sent to Ukraine – are already destroyed.
Equipment losses on the Ukrainian side also includes 25 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
U.S.-based Forbes reported that a June 8 attack by Ukrainians on a Russian minefield south of Mala Tokmachka was particularly costly. Ukrainian military reportedly lost three Leopard 2A6 tanks, three Leopard 2R engineering vehicles, and 16 of their 109 M-2 infantry fighting vehicles, all within minutes.
German newspaper Berliner Zeitung wrote on Monday that the destruction by Russia’s Armed Forces of Western military equipment supplied to Ukraine has had a "sobering effect" on Western countries.
Meanwhile, various media reports said Russia has accelerated deliveries of weapons to its troops.
The three biggest Russian arms factories, Uralvagonzavod, Omsktransmash and Kurganmashzavod, have gone into overdrive producing tanks, artillery and armored vehicles.
Uralvagonzavod has become an exclusive manufacturer of tanks, while Omsktransmash for the modernization of T80s and T62Ms, as well as some artillery, including the D30, 2s4, and 2s5.
Kurganmashzavod is working on IFVs like the BMP3M, and at least five repair armored plants are refurbishing other IFVs and APCs.
Another arms factory, Uraltransmash is producing Akatsiya, Malka, and Msta S artillery and has already delivered two batches of Msta S this year.
Russian troops have also received new batches of Su-35S and Su-30SM2 fighter jets recently. Rostec said it increased Su-30SM2’s range of detection and identification of air targets has increased. It said new high-precision weapons to destroy air, ground and sea targets at a distance of several hundred kilometers have been introduced into the armament of fighters.
Last week, Russian troops also received the first batch of new 2S19M1 Msta-S self-propelled artillery mounts. The upgraded version of the howitzer is equipped with an automated guidance and fire control system (ASUNO), which allows firing at targets around the clock and in all weather conditions.
Rostec also approved the decision to transfer four companies: Plant No. 9, Burevestnik Central Research Institute, Uralvagonzavod-owned Uraltransmash, and Central Research Institute of Materials (TsNIIM) to the management of the Tekhmash concern.
“The purpose of the regrouping is to create a unified system on the principle of ‘gun-shot.’ The competencies for the development, production, repair, maintenance of artillery systems and the production of ammunition for them are now concentrated in the Tekhmash circuit. This concern has historically been the flagship of the Russian ammunition industry. Consolidation of assets will allow to increase production volumes against the background of the increased needs of the army. At the same time, Uralvagonzavod will focus on the production of its main products - tanks," said Bekhan Ozdoev, Industrial Director of the Cluster of Arms, Ammunition and Special Chemicals of Rostec.