The number of Russian armored vehicles at the front is steadily decreasing, and the occupiers are forced to attack in civilian cars. Most often, these are Lada Zhiguli.
Forbes analyst David Axe explains what this means.
Why do Russians attack Ukrainian positions with Zhiguli?
According to a Forbes expert, the Russians launched their first car assaults in the spring of 2024. But then they were isolated attempts.
However, it has now become the norm for them to attack in a “formation,” as the loss of armored vehicles and other heavy equipment in the Russian army has exceeded 15,000 units.
Aks noted that Russia produced about 200 new BMP-3 combat vehicles, up to 100 new T-90M tanks, and several hundred other armored vehicles during the year. At the same time, armored vehicle losses amount to 6,000 units per year.
For the past 3 years, the Russian Defense Ministry has quickly eliminated this deficit using huge stocks of old Soviet-era vehicles. But everything ends, and now these stocks are virtually exhausted.
Experts have been discussing when the crisis will come for the past few months. And now, says Aks, most of them are convinced that the “Ladakh assault” is an obvious sign of a turning point in the war.
In this regard, Axe is sure things will only get worse for Russia.