Bloomberg: Ukraine has overtaken Russia in the number of tanks
New data on the amount of military aid to Ukraine indicates a significant change in the balance of heavy weapons on the front after more than 16 months of full-scale war. Thus, the Armed Forces of Ukraine caught up and even surpassed the Russian army in terms of the number of tanks. This is reported by Bloomberg.
According to updated database Ukraine Support Tracker, supported by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion the Allies delivered 471 tanks to Ukraine, and another 286 tanks are to arrive.
Together with data from Oryx regarding the losses of the Russian and Ukrainian armies and the amount of captured heavy equipment, it turns out that in the summer of 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have more tanks than the Russian army, which has lost more than half of its heavy equipment since February 2022.
The balance of heavy artillery and MLRS is still in favor of the Russians, but Ukraine’s is no longer as behind as in 2022, besides the well-known problem of barrel wear and a shortage of Soviet-style shells for the occupying artillery.
On the other hand, according to Ukraine Support Tracker data, despite some significant support packages, the total volume of new commitments to support Ukraine from other countries dropped significantly in the spring of 2023. And this applies to both military and humanitarian and financial support.
For the period from February 25 to May 31, 2023, covered by the new study, the value of all aid to Ukraine increased by a good €13 billion to a total of about €165 billion; almost €9 billion was allocated to military aid. Germany, now the second largest provider of military aid to Ukraine in absolute terms, has increased its military commitments by €3.26 billion, or 76%, to a total of €7.5 billion. These include additional battle tanks, anti-aircraft missiles “Iris-T” and other weapons.
The first place both in terms of the total amount of aid and in terms of military aid is the USA, which gave Ukraine €70.7 billion in aid (the Kiel Institute calculates everything in euros), €42.84 billion of which is military aid.