On December 7, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defense presented a report on the successes of pro-Russian forces and the Russian army waging war against Ukraine. Let us remind you that in the Russian Federation this war, which has been going on for 1018 days, is called a “special military operation.”
Experts from the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) and other independent military experts give an extremely low assessment of the reliability of the reports of the Russian Ministry of Defense, including on the losses of the Ukrainian side. Let us note that pro-Russian military experts do not trust these reports. However, we believe it is important to publish the contents of these documents, as this may be required in the future for comparative analysis.
The reports of the Russian Ministry of Defense are quoted verbatim. These documents are stored in our archive.
It is noteworthy: against the backdrop of ongoing hostilities in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, which have been carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine for about four months, the Russian Ministry of Defense does not mention these events at all in its report on the “North Military District”. At the same time, a separate report on the situation in the Kursk region is published daily, containing extremely dubious data on the losses of the Ukrainian side and statements that the situation is under control. However, the very fact of such publications indicates that the forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to operate on the territory of the Russian Federation. In addition, this indirectly indicates that the Russian Ministry of Defense has a different attitude towards the Kursk region and the “new territories of the Russian Federation” (Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army).
The report of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation begins with the statement: “Units of the group of forces “North” in the Kharkov direction defeated the formations of the military defense brigade and the border detachment of the Ukrainian border service in the areas of the settlements of Tikhoe, Volchansk and Liptsy in the Kharkov region. Two counterattacks of the assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled. The enemy lost up to 60 military personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, two vehicles and three howitzers D-30. Units of the “West” group of troops occupied more advantageous positions, defeated the manpower and equipment of two mechanized, airborne brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and three terrestrial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Grigorovka, Zagryzovo, Kupyansk in the Kharkov region, Novoegorovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Torskoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic repelled 11 counterattacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ assault groups. Enemy losses amounted to up to. 490 military personnel, a tank, two armored combat vehicles, five cars, a 155 mm FH-70 howitzer made in Great Britain, a 155 mm howitzer M198 and a 105 mm M119 gun made in the USA, a 152 mm Msta-B howitzer and a 122 mm howitzer D-30. Units of the “Southern” group of forces improved the tactical position and defeated the formations of two mechanized, airmobile and air assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Ulakly, Kurakhovo, Nikolaevka and Dachnoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Two counterattacks by enemy assault units were repelled. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces amounted to up to 325 military personnel, two vehicles, a 155-mm M777 howitzer and a 105-mm M119 gun made in the USA, a 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount and a 122-mm D-30 howitzer. Units of the “Center” group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy’s defenses and liberated the village of Berestki of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The manpower and equipment of two mechanized, motorized infantry brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a marine brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Dzerzhinsk, Shcherbinovka, Petrovka and Novoalekseevka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. We repelled 10 counterattacks by armed formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The enemy lost up to 525 troops, five armored combat vehicles, including a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier, three vehicles, three 152 mm D-20 guns and two 122 mm D-30 howitzers. Units of the Vostok group of troops occupied more advantageous positions and defeated formations of a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, two military defense brigades and a brigade of the National Guard in the areas of the settlements of Constantinople, Novoocheretovatoye and Otradnoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Three counterattacks of enemy assault groups were repelled. The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces amounted to up to 100 military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, a car, a 155-mm self-propelled artillery mount “Bogdan” and a 122-mm self-propelled artillery mount “Gvozdika”. Units of the Dnepr group of troops defeated manpower and equipment of units of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a military defense brigade in the areas of Malaya Tokmachka, Zaporozhye region, and Antonovka, Kherson region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 60 military personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles, six vehicles and a counter-battery station. Operational-tactical aviation, attack unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery from groupings of troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation defeated energy facilities that support the operation of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, as well as concentrations of enemy manpower and military equipment in 142 regions. Air defense systems shot down 26 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.”
“In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, the following have been destroyed: 649 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 37,380 unmanned aerial vehicles, 586 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19,698 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,497 combat vehicles of multiple launch rocket systems, 19,145 field artillery guns and mortars, 29,080 units of special military vehicle equipment,” states the report of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to independent observers, the Russian Ministry of Defense greatly overestimates the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The confirmed losses of the Russian army and pro-Russian military structures in Ukraine (we are talking about verified data from open sources collected by the editors of Mediazona and the BBC) amount to more than 79,800 people killed (by famous names) or about 120,000 (by inheritance cases).
Wall Street Journal loss estimate (as of September 2024): about 200 thousand killed and 400 thousand wounded Russians; about 80 thousand killed and 400 thousand wounded Ukrainians.
According to confirmed UN data, since February 24, 2022, about 11,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed (including about 540 minors), and more than 20 thousand have been injured. At the same time, the UN emphasizes that we are talking only about verified incidents, and the real numbers are “significantly higher.” Ukrainian authorities say that tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians have died (the largest number of victims is in Mariupol, according to local authorities, more than 20,000).