Defeat in Debaltsevo: Kiev's Stalingrad

Junta's losses over the last month stagger the imagination.

DPR Ministry of Defense published data concerning the losses of Ukrainian occupation forces which they suffered during battles with Novorossia's defenders in the vicinity of Debaltsevo and on other sectors of the front between January 12 and February 20.

Occupier losses include 10,940 killed and wounded (including 4110 killed), and 1178 prisoners of war.

Equipment losses are also staggering. The invaders have lost the following quantities of equipment:

• 299 tanks (28 captured intact at Debaltsevo)


• 38 self-propelled howitzers (12 captured)


• 4 2S7 Pion 203mm self-propelled cannon (3 captured)


• 4 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm SP howitzers


• 3 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm SP howitzers


• 151 BMPs (33 captured)


• 115 BTRs (30 captured)


• 24 Grad 122mm MRLs (15 captured at Debaltsevo)


• 1 Smerch 300mm MRL


• 205 towed artillery pieces


• 36 120mm mortars


• 16 ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns (captured at Debaltsevo)


• 6 MT-LB tracked APCs and prime movers.


• 2 BRDMs


• 4 BMDs


• 290 motor vehicles (145 captured)

In addition, the junta lost 3 Su-25 attack aircraft, 1 helicopter, and 4 UAVs.

The Ukrainian military had abandoned a state-of-the-art counter-mortar radar supplied by the United States.

J.Hawk's Comment: It's difficult to say to what extent this data is accurate, especially when it comes to the estimates of killed and wounded, many of whom became casualties due to Novorossia artillery fire against targets behind the front lines. However, photographic evidence from several blogs suggests these figures are correct within an order of magnitude. Every major engagement saw the battlefield littered with destroyed and abandoned UAF vehicles. The Debaltsevo cauldron's rate of losses was even higher, since the vast majority of equipment the UAF sent there had to be left behind.

Arguably this victory is even more important as, in addition to he obvious morale effect on both sides, it quite effectively deprived the UAF of the physical ability to conduct offensive military operations (not that they were all that impressive to begin with), and even to offer effective defense against a Novorossia offensive. This is why Ukrainian officials are scouring the world for weapons, and why the West is concerned about Novorossia's designs on the rest of Ukraine. And, let's face it, the surest sign that Ukraine is on the brink of military collapse is when NATO begins to talk about the Russian Army allegedly operating in Eastern Ukraine.

However, it does not appear that Novorossia is going to press its military advantage. To start with, its government has major problems to deal with, due to the damage caused by Ukrainian artillery bombardments of civilian areas. In contrast to Ukraine, Novorossia's government plans to establish its legitimacy by actually governing and making the country a place fit for human habitation. Secondly, Ukraine's economic crisis is deepening, which will either force a change of policy or, should that fail to materialize, a change of regime. At the moment, the latter scenario seems the more likely of the two.