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Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced a list of the latest statistics from the first two weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and warned the situation on the ground remains “grave”.
Addressing MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Mr Wallace said while the Russians clearly had the upper hand on military hardware and troop numbers, they lacked “the moral component so often needed for victory”.
The defence secretary said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “arrogant assumption that he would be welcomed as a liberator has crumbled as fast as his troops’ morale”.
As a result of the worsening crisis Britain has increased its funding for Ukraine to £220 million ($288m), which includes £120 million of humanitarian aid, Mr Wallace announced.
Military losses
Mr Wallace cited the latest figures released by Ukraine which showed that as of March 6 Russia had lost:
· 285 tanks
· 985 armoured fighting vehicles
· 109 artillery systems
· 50 rocket launch systems
· 44 aircraft
· 48 helicopters
· 11,000 soldiers
However, Mr Wallace stressed that the Ukrainian figures had not been verified by Britain.
Tactical battalion groups
At the beginning of the invasion, Russia had between 110 and 120 battalion tactical groups.
This was almost double the 65 groups on the Ukrainian side.
Russia has “committed 65 per cent of their entire land forces and indisputably are in possession of overwhelming firepower and armour” Mr Wallace said, but stressed that invading troops are growing weary.
Civilian deaths
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed since the invasion began, Mr Wallace said, citing official figures. He said the true figure is thought to be much higher.
Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking civilians as they tried to flee under humanitarian corridor agreements.
Schools
Russian troops have damaged or destroyed about 211 schools in Ukraine.
Kindergartens have also come under attack.
Weapons
Mr Wallace said Britain had sent 3,615 NLAW anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.
More than 900 man-portable air defence missiles have been sent to the Ukrainians from the international community.
Britain is exploring the possibility of donating Starstreak high-velocity man-portable anti-air missiles to Ukraine, the defence secretary said.
He said the UK would soon start sending anti-tank javelins.
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A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
An apartment building damaged after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo -
A woman puts her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter, set up for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo -
Belarussian and suspected Russian helicopters on the flight line at Machulishchy Air Base outside Minsk, Belarus. AP Photo -
Children look on as people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine shelter in a school, in Drohobych, Ukraine. Reuters -
Families eat in the shelter. Reuters -
A woman looks out from a building damaged by Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, 100 kilometres away from Odesa, western Ukraine. AFP -
A wounded Ukrainian man waits in the corridor of the central hospital of Mykolaiv. AFP -
An elderly woman is carried in a shopping cart after being rescued from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman reacts as a train carrying children from Kyiv's Central Children's Hospital leaves the Ukrainian capital on its way to Lviv. Reuters -
A girl sits in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP -
An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being rescued from Irpin. AP -
Belarusian volunteers take part in military exercises at the Belarusian Company base in Kyiv. AP -
Lessa, left, director of a nursery school turned into a refugee shelter, cries as she hugs Olega, who arrived from Kyiv with her baby, near Lviv. EPA -
Ukrainians pass a damaged bridge as they flee from Irpin. AP -
A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin. AP -
A soldier stands on a barricade made of sandbags in central Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters -
A charred Russian tank and captured tanks in the Sumy region. Reuters -
People rest at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland. AFP -
Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Maksym Kononenko, third right, and his wife Tetiana Doroshenko, fourth left, attend a meeting of members of the Ukrainian community with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, third left, and Queen Maxima, second left, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in The Hague. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destruction after shelling in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. AFP -
A refugee holds her dog as they wait for trains to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A woman ties ribbons in Ukrainian national flag colours in a girl's hair as people wait at a refugee assistance centre in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA -
A Ukrainian soldier carries an elderly woman crossing the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Lena, who had never left Ukraine before fleeing into Moldova, feeds Dasha, 3, soon after crossing the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Refugees without immediate plans to move further inland can stay the night in tents set up on Moldova's side of the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Tatiana and her son wait for a van that will carry them from the Moldovan border to Chisinau. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
Each night, the Palanca refugee camp in Moldova feeds up to 300 people who arrive with no onward plans. Erin Clare Brown for The National -
People pass a damaged bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin, close to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to a church in Irpin. EPA -
A firefighter holds the baby of a Ukrainian refugee at the border in Romania. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Kyiv. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP -
Ukrainian activist Ihor Mazur, left, a veteran of the war in the country's east, looks at a night-vision device in Kyiv. AP -
Ambassadors attend a UN Security Council meeting on threats to international security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York. Reuters -
Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya holds a paper with an image of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as he addresses the Security Council in New York. Reuters -
A road sign put up in support of Mr Zelenskyy outside Russia's embassy in Washington. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. EPA -
Lethal and non-lethal Ukrainian aid is loaded on to a plane bound for Poland by Canadian soldiers in Trenton, Ontario. Reuters -
Volunteers carry medical aid and necessities at a train station in Lviv. EPA -
Everton players wear T-shirts in support of Ukraine as they warm up for an English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. AP -
A residential building damaged by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A man walks past a checkpoint in heavy snow in Lviv. Getty -
A man fleeing fighting in Irpin waits to cross a river after Russian forces entered the city. Getty -
Soldiers assist Irpin residents underneath a damaged bridge as they flee. Getty -
Ukrainian civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces take part in a training exercise in Odesa after Russia's invasion. Reuters -
Men carry a body to a lorry as people flee from the frontline town of Irpin. EPA -
A Ukrainian police officer runs with a child as the sound of shelling echoes nearby in Irpin. AP -
Parents and children struggle to board a train in Lviv. AP
Russian objectives
Mr Wallace said when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 they had three main goals: to encircle and capture Kyiv, encircle Ukrainian forces near the borders, and invade from southern Ukraine to link up with other forces via Mariupol.
He said they have failed to effectively target Ukrainian air defences, “preventing total air dominance”.
So far, Russia has captured the southern port city of Berdyansk, along with the cities of Kherson and Melitopol. While troops have encircled other cities including the capital they have yet to take full control of them.
