Huge tank losses are blamed on ‘incompetent’ Russian top forces, while the Defense Ministry ridicules the ‘bad’ efforts of Vladimir Putin’s troops in Ukraine
- The British Ministry of Defense described “numerous failures by Russian commanders” to enforce order
- And undertrained tank crews have been unable to fix decades-old problems
- Data released by Kyiv indicated 44,000 Russian soldiers and 1,800 tanks killed
- Russia was reportedly forced to withdraw 24 warplanes from Crimea
Britain yesterday ridiculed the “poor performance” of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, blaming the country’s top executives for their incompetence and lack of discipline.
A daily intelligence report from the Ministry of Defense says Moscow has lost a large number of main battle tanks because they were not equipped with explosive reactive armor technology – or ERA.
“When used correctly, ERA reduces the effectiveness of incoming projectiles before they hit the tank,” the report reads.
“This suggests that the Russian armed forces have failed to correct a culture of poor ERA use dating back to the First Chechen War in 1994.”
The report added: “It is very likely that many Russian tank crews lack the training to maintain ERA, resulting in either poor explosive element matching or omitting them altogether.”
A Russian tank fires at Putin’s “Army 2022” weapons convention during military exercises in Moscow
British officials said “the war has witnessed numerous failures by Russian commanders in enforcing low-level combat discipline,” adding, “The impact of these failures is likely a major factor in the poor performance of Russian forces.”
Data released by the Ukrainian military says their troops killed more than 44,000 Russian soldiers and destroyed about 1,800 tanks.
Britain has handed over nearly 7,000 anti-tank missiles to Ukraine since Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded the country in February.
Ukrainian military intelligence officials said yesterday that Russia was forced to withdraw 24 warplanes and 14 attack helicopters from occupied Crimea after it conducted airstrikes on airfields in Saki and Gvardiyske. The withdrawal has resulted in the aircraft being moved deeper into the annexed Black Sea Peninsula or into Russia itself.