- Ukraine has lost 16 US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, open-source analysis found.
- The losses are a sizeable chunk of the 109 Bradleys sent to Ukraine by the US.
- Pushing through Russian frontline defenses was always expected to be costly for Ukrainian forces.
Sixteen US-provided Bradley infantry fighting vehicles have been lost or damaged in Ukraine in recent days, highlighting the military toll of the current counteroffensive, according to open-source analysis.
Dutch website Oryx, which tracks visual evidence of losses on both sides, documented five destroyed Bradleys and 11 that have been damaged and abandoned.
The footage and images appear to date from between Friday and Sunday, which is consistent with the Institute for the Study of War's assessment that Ukraine pushed forward with its counteroffensive efforts over the weekend.
The losses would amount to a sizeable chunk of the 109 Bradleys that the US has committed to Ukraine, the first of which were confirmed as in use on the battlefield in April.
Moving on tracks rather than wheels, Bradleys are intended to provide firepower while also transporting around 10 troops inside them.
They are much stronger than the BMP-1 and BMP2 — the Soviet-era infantry fighting vehicles in earlier use in Ukraine — and the destruction of a Bradley is less likely to result in the loss of the troops it is transporting, Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, remarked on Twitter.
It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images, and Russia has previously fabricated claims of having destroyed US-provided Bradleys. But Oryx applies strict criteria in confirming losses and has been a reference point for many news reports on military losses in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in Feburary 2022.
The report on the Bradleys comes after Ukraine lost around half of its specially adapted Leopard 2R mine-clearing vehicles donated by Finland, as Forbes reported. These are intended to pave the way through Russian minefields and help make a breach that IFVs can then rush through.
One such attempt was made using Bradleys and Leopard 2 tanks late last week in the Zaporizhzhia region, just south of the town of Mala Tokmachka, Forbes reported.
In that instance, the Leopard 2 and around nine Bradleys were lost or abandoned — with much of their crew escaping and taking cover, the outlet reported. The vehicles appear to be among those reported by Oryx.
The incident demonstrates the formidable obstacles that breaching Russian defensive lines entails.
Russian defenses include a plethora of dense minefields, trenches, and "dragon's teeth" barricades that stretch 600 miles along the front.
Ukrainian counteroffensive operations are also being undertaken under Russian air fire, adding to the difficulties.
The losses could lead to further requests for military aid as the counteroffensive moves forward, with Ukraine needing to combine air support, intelligence and long-range artillery with forces on the ground.
"A single piece of equipment like the Bradleys is wonderful, but it needs to be used in conjunction with all those other enablers," retired US general James "Spider" Marks told CNN in January.
The findings come as Ukraine reported retaking three settlements — Velyka Novosilke, Blahodatne, and Neskuchne in Donetsk region, as CNN reported.