Russia Lost More Artillery In March Than Any Month In War, 408 In Last Week

Even by the profligate standards of Russia's Ukrainian losses, March stands out - and it still has hours to go.

The Russians lost more of their increasingly rare artillery systems this month than in any other month of the war - and they lost 408 such guns just in the last week. JL

Ellie Cook reports in Newsweek and Yevhen Kizilov reports in Ukraine Pravda:

Russia lost more artillery systems throughout March than in any other single month of the war so far as hits by Ukrainian forces have destroyed 408 Russian artillery systems over the past week. Between March 1 and the morning of March 31, Moscow's forces lost 1,578 artillery systems. The Russians have lost 4,005 artillery systems since the beginning of 2025.

Russia lost more artillery systems throughout March than in any other single month of the war so far, figures from Ukraine's military indicate, as clashes along the snaking front lines rage on despite persistent U.S. attempts to quickly bring about a full ceasefire deal. Accurate hits by the defence forces of Ukraine have destroyed 408 Russian artillery systems over the past week.

Source: Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on social media

Quote from Syrskyi: "Thanks to accurate drone strikes, counter-battery combat, and effective work by every branch of the defence forces of Ukraine, enemy losses of artillery systems amounted to 408 units last week alone (24-31 March)."

Details: Syrskyi said the Russians have lost 4,005 artillery systems since the beginning of 2025.

"Thank you to our soldiers for their effective combat work. The fight continues!" the commander-in-chief said.

Background: Earlier, Syrskyi said that due to the modernisation of the basic general military training course and the introduction of an adaptation period for new recruits, it had been possible to reduce losses among Ukrainian soldiers in March compared to previous months.

Why It Matters

Access to a large number of artillery systems, and the ammunition to keep them firing, has been a key consideration for both Moscow and Kyiv throughout more than three years of full-scale war.

Ukraine uses a variety of artillery systems, including the U.S.-donated High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, also known as HIMARS, and different types of howitzers, but has largely been outgunned by Russia and its vast stockpiles of ammunition. Kyiv has rushed to produce as much of its own equipment and ammunition as possible, including producing roughly 20 of its domestically-made Bohdana howitzers each month.

Artillery is typically described as responsible for a large percentage of casualties along the hundreds of miles of front lines.

 

What To Know

Ukraine's military said on Monday that Russian forces had lost 30 artillery systems over the previous day, bringing Kyiv's tally of total Russian artillery losses to 25,537 systems.

Between the early hours of March 1 and the morning of March 31, Moscow's forces lost 1,578 artillery systems, according to the daily updates published by Kyiv's General Staff.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said in January that Russia's heaviest artillery losses of the war were recorded in July 2024, when Moscow lost 1,520 artillery systems.

Ukrainian figures indicate Russia lost just under 1,000 artillery systems in January 2025, and 1,370 artillery systems in February.

 

Service members of the Arbat (Armenian battalion) separate special task force unit of the Russian Armed Forces' Volunteer Corps prepares fire a D-20 152mm howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in Kursk region, Russia, on March 30,...  Sergey Bobylev / Sputnik via AP

Newsweek could not independently verify these numbers, and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email. Ukraine's tallies typically come in higher than Western estimates.

Oryx, a Dutch open-source intelligence outlet, said that as of Monday, Russia has lost at least 460 towed artillery systems, more than 900 self-propelled artillery systems and 130 artillery support vehicles, plus a handful of command vehicles.

This number only includes visually-verified losses, and the true figure is likely to be significantly higher.

 

Russia's Defense Ministry said on Monday that Ukraine had lost 23,130 field artillery pieces and mortars, on top of 1,533 multiple launch rocket systems. HIMARS fall under this category. Newsweek could not independently verify this number.