Russia Overwhelmed In Ukraine: Troop Morale Poor, Deploy 60-Year-Old Tanks And Soviet-era Artillery To The Front

Illustration of a Russian T-62 tank being transported by train. (Wikimedia Commons/Glenn J. Mason)

JAKARTA - The losses suffered by Russia in Ukraine have led the country's military commanders to decide to send a 60-year-old tank to the front lines of battle, Western officials say.

The death toll among Russian troops is estimated to have reached 20,000, they said, an increase of 5,000 since April, as reported by The National News on June 10.

Not only that, Moscow is running out of its most advanced cruise missiles and advanced rockets, with international sanctions making it difficult to get spare parts. This put his campaign in trouble and overwhelmed Moscow.

"The Russian campaign continues to be problematic at all levels. Tactically, morale at the unit level and some layers of command is very poor, with units often fighting at a fraction of their crews", an official told the media.

It also takes "days or weeks to achieve even a simple tactical goal", such as capturing villages that must be covered in hours.

"Something to watch out for is, the point at which the entire Russian armed forces may reach where they can no longer effectively generate offensive fighting force", the official said.

Illustration of a Russian T-62 tank. (Wikimedia Commons/Glenn Jno)

Nonetheless, Russia still has a steady if costly advance in eastern Ukraine, with its forces nearly capturing the main Donbas city of Severodonetsk.

However, in recent days progress 'seems to have stalled', the official said, although Russia is still trying hard to seize the city using mass and indiscriminate artillery.

"There is a feeling of strategic improvisation or chaos, while the Russian armed forces are increasingly facing shortages of ammunition and key capabilities of strategic impact", the official said.

This shortcoming led to the Kremlin sending the veteran T-62, first produced in 1961, to the front. More than 100 37-tonne tanks were dug around Russian defensive positions rather than being used in offensive roles.

Soviet-era munitions, particularly for artillery, have also been retrieved from deep storage bunkers, although their age is understood to make them unstable and unreliable.

"Russia has exhausted its stockpile of hundreds of Kalibr cruise missiles, weapons which "require significant effort from the defense-industrial complex to manufacture and are expensive", the official said.

The official 'believes' the current death toll on the Russian side is between 15,000 and 20,000, with three times that number being injured.

Previously, Ukraine had put the Russian military death toll at 31,000, with Kyiv having admitted it is currently suffering from up to 100 of its soldiers being killed every day.