The 22 months of Russia Ukraine war have been brutal and costly for both sides, particularly for invading Russian forces.

Russians typically outnumber Ukrainians on the battlefield by a ratio of almost three to one, The New York Times reported, but Ukraine has used weapons such as the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, and Western cruise missiles to inflict high casualties on Russian troops.

Russia has never confirmed the numbers of its losses, but Western estimates suggest approximately 315,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in Ukraine. Ukrainian casualties are believed to be around 200,000.

Reports say Russia has been hemorrhaging men and weapons in its most significant attack against Ukraine in recent months: Its attempt to capture Avdiivka, a strategic town in eastern Ukraine and a gateway to Russia-occupied Ukraine.

Despite high Russian losses, the country’s population is about three times the size of Ukraine’s — a large pool from which Russia could keep replenishing its ranks.

These are believed to be some of the deadliest single moments for Russia in the conflict so far.

A strike on Kherson 14 miles behind the front line

Ukrainian forces likely took out more than 70 Russian soldiers in a strike on the village of Hladkivka in the Kherson oblast on November 10, the UK Ministry of Defence said.

The attack, which targeted a convoy of trucks, likely took place 14 miles behind the front lines, highlighting Ukraine’s long-range precision-strike capabilities.

Russia’s warship Novocherkassk — part of its Black Sea Fleet — was hit in a Ukrainian attack

On December 26, 2023, images of a massive explosion went viral on social media of the Russian navy’s stricken landing ship Novocherkassk.

A Telegram channel, the independent Russian media outlet Astra, reported there were 77 sailors aboard the Novocherkassk at the time of the Ukrainian strike on a dock in Feodosia in annexed Crimea, and 33 were reported missing and 19 injured.

Reporters and open-source intelligence channels posted photos showing the burning wreckage of the docked ship, supporting Ukraine’s claim that long-range missiles — probably the highly-rated British Storm Shadow cruise missiles — attacked the ship.

Some reports said the vessel may have been loaded with Iranian-made Shahed attack drones when it was hit.

Russians killed while training on Dzharylhach island

Ukraine released a video that claimed to show Russian soldiers being struck by HIMARS as they trained at Dzharylhach Island, a 26-mile-long sandbank in the Black Sea that’s part of the Russian-occupied Kherson oblast.

Ukraine said that the attack caused 200 casualties. The number could not be independently verified.

The drone footage from August 2023 shows soldiers appearing to stretch and exercise on the Ukrainian island’s sandy shores before being hit from above.

Strike during a commander’s speech in Kreminna

Ukraine’s HIMARS reportedly struck a large gathering of Russian soldiers in the city of Kreminna as they stood for two hours to watch a commander’s speech in July 2023.

Some reports put the number of dead as high as 100 and total casualties as high as 200. The numbers could not be independently verified.

An unnamed Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Post that it was a “funny situation” because the Russian soldiers had made themselves sitting ducks.

The claim, which a Russian milbogger initially reported, led to Russian nationalists calling for military leaders to be punished.

New Year’s strike on Makiivka

While Russian officials have largely not acknowledged losses, Russia’s defense ministry made a rare announcement confirming the deaths of 89 troops in a strike in Makiivka, a small city in Ukraine’s Donetsk oblast.

Ukrainian officials claimed that the casualties were much higher, with around 400 soldiers killed and 300 injured. The figures could not be independently verified.

Ukraine said it used HIMARS for the attack, and the Russian ministry said Ukraine fired six rockets, four of which struck their troops, the ISW reported.

The attack sparked widespread criticism of Russian military leadership, ISW reported. A senior Russian military official, Sergei Sevryukov, blamed the high number of casualties on soldiers’ use of cell phones without providing evidence, The Guardian reported.

A Russian battalion’s failed crossing of the Siverskyi Donets River

Ukrainian forces decimated a Russian battalion as it tried to cross the Siverskyi Donets River in northeastern Ukraine in May 2022.

Ukrainian artillery destroyed several Russian pontoon bridges, and estimates put the toll of dead or wounded Russians at around 485, according to the Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, based on analyses of publicly available imagery.

They estimated that over 80 pieces of equipment could have been destroyed.

Media reports said that Ukraine used M777 howitzers to strike the battalion.

Russian milbloggers responded to the incident with shock and began commenting on the incompetence of the Russian military, the ISW reported.

The sinking of the missile cruiser Moskva

Just two months into Russia’s unprovoked invasion, Ukraine scored an early success by sinking the Russian warship Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet.

On April 14, 2022, Ukrainian officials said their forces had struck the ship with at least one Neptune missile, which the Pentagon confirmed.

Ukraine claimed that almost all 500 sailors on board had perished, while Russia said that nearly all had evacuated before the ship sank.

Later, Russia admitted under pressure that one sailor had died and that 27 were missing, but said the rest had been evacuated.

But several family members of Moskva sailors told the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta that at least 40 on board had died.

The true death toll is still unknown. (Business Insider)