The huge number of tanks lost by Vladimir Putin’s army invading Ukraine is partly due to their inability to use reactive armour, continuing a culture of non-target use dating back to the first Chechen war, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an assessment early Thursday.

What British military intelligence says:

• It is likely that the massive loss of Russian main battle tanks in Ukraine is partly due to Russia’s failure to properly install and deploy Dynamic Armor (ERA).
• When used correctly, ERA reduces the effectiveness of incoming projectiles before they hit the tank. This shows that Russian forces have not corrected a culture of ERA abuse that dates back to the first Chechen war in 1994.
• It is very likely that many Russian tank crews have not been trained to maintain ERA, resulting in either incorrect installation of explosives or no explosives.
• These deficiencies likely contribute to the mass ejections of the tower, which are well documented on eyewitness video from Ukraine.
• The war was marked by numerous failures of Russian commanders to apply lower-level combat discipline – for example, the use of ERA. The cumulative effect of these failures is likely to be a significant factor in the low effectiveness of Russian forces.

The Ukrainian military said on Wednesday that the Russians had lost 1,886 tanks during the nearly six-month invasion. According to Oryx, a company that monitors the war in Ukraine, there is visual confirmation that the Russians lost 961 tanks (590 destroyed, 37 damaged, 51 abandoned and 283 captured).

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