Russia Suffers Heavy Losses in Ukraine on Christmas Day: Kyiv

Russia lost more than 1,000 soldiers, 22 tanks and 37 armored personnel vehicles on December 25, Ukraine's military has said, marking the end of a bruising few days for Moscow's armed forces in the war-torn country.

Russia lost 1,010 fighters on Christmas Day, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday, bringing Kyiv's tally of Russian personnel losses to 354,960 soldiers. Moscow also lost nearly two dozen tanks and tens of armored vehicles on December 25, Ukraine added in an operational update.

It is not possible to independently verify Kyiv's total, and Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

The figures are the latest indicator of the toll the nearly two years of war has taken on Russia's land-based military, as well as at sea and in the air. Ukraine's military has said it dealt heavy blows to Russia's ground troops, air force and the Black Sea naval fleet based on and around the annexed Crimean peninsula in the past week.

On December 24, Ukrainian fighters shot down "two more Russian military aircraft," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said in his evening address on Monday. "In total, five 'Su' aircraft were shot down in the week before Christmas," the Ukrainian leader added. "This is really impressive."

Russia operates several models of "Su" aircraft, including the Su-34 supersonic bomber, as well as the Su-25 and Su-27 fighter jets.

Kyiv had said on Friday that it had taken out three Russian Su-34 jets in a single day. Early on Monday, Ukraine's air force then said its air defenses had destroyed another Russian Su-34 over the eastern Donetsk region and one Su-30SM jet over the Black Sea.

In total, Ukraine says it has shot down 329 Russian aircraft in the 22 months of all-out war, although it is not possible to independently verify this figure.

Russia's woes have also touched the country's navy based close to Ukraine. Moscow confirmed on Tuesday that a Ukrainian missile strike on the eastern Crimean port of Feodosia damaged a large landing ship, the Novocherkassk. Ukraine previously said the ship was damaged in an attack in the south of Ukraine back in March 2022.

Ukraine used cruise missiles to attack the landing ship at around 2:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. ET) on Tuesday, Kyiv's air force said in a statement. "The fleet in Russia is getting smaller and smaller," Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, head of the Ukrainian air force, added in a post to social media.

One person was killed and two others were injured, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of the annexed peninsula, said on Tuesday. "Six buildings were damaged, mostly with broken windows," he said in a post to Telegram.

Ukraine has vowed to reclaim Crimea, the peninsula to the south of the mainland that Russia has controlled for nearly a decade. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted Russia's Black Sea fleet based in Crimea with Western-supplied cruise missiles and different types of drones, managing to sink the flagship Moskva in April 2022 and a Russian submarine in September 2023.

Ukrainian officials suggested Western-supplied Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles were used in Tuesday's attack. "A brilliant special operation was carried out, strikes were carried out, we outsmarted the Russians, and we continue to do so now," Ukrainian air force spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat told Radio Svoboda. "Western weapons plus well-planned tactical operations lead to results," he added.

Ukraine has also suffered heavy losses. In an update published on Saturday, Moscow said 555 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed over the previous 24 hours, but did not provide a Russian estimate for total Ukrainian losses.

Russia said on Tuesday that its air defenses had taken out two Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft launching guided missiles. A spokesperson for Ukraine's air force denied this, Ukrainian media reported on Tuesday.