What’s in a Russian BTG and how much did they lose - speculation with data

I came across a [tweet](https://twitter.com/tom_bullock_/status/1509197936638504963) yesterday about the Russian BTG, and wondered, are Russian units that rigid and that predictable? Luckily, we have a huge pile of Russian losses data to see for ourselves. Thanks to [Oryx’s](https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop) tireless cataloging.

[Armor Composition](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?side=Russia&categories=Tanks%7EArmoured+Fighting+Vehicles%7EInfantry+Fighting+Vehicles%7EArmoured+Personnel+Carriers&percent=1&key=category)

Russian tanks made up about 34% of the armor wreckages, consistently, much higher than the supposed 18% composition according to the internet. Granted, composition of a marching column shouldn’t translate one to one on losses, but the steadily high fraction of tank losses indicates a BTG may be more tank heavy than most people think. Or the Russians are really reckless with their MBTs.

[Trucks and Support Vehicles](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?side=Russia&categories=Tanks%7EArmoured+Fighting+Vehicles%7EInfantry+Fighting+Vehicles%7EArmoured+Personnel+Carriers%7EEngineering+Vehicles%7ETrucks%2C+Vehicles+and+Jeeps&percent=1&key=category)

The internet may be spot-on for this one. We saw 40-42% of armor and support losses being trucks and support vehicles, while the supposed composition was about 36%. Russians attempted to bolster their supply chain with extra trucks and we are seeing it in their losses.

[Artillery](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?side=Russia&categories=Self-Propelled+Artillery%7ETowed+Artillery%7EMultiple+Rocket+Launchers%7ETanks&percent=1&key=category) and [Anti-Air](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?side=Russia&categories=Tanks%7EAnti-Aircraft+Guns%7ESurface-To-Air+Missile+Systems&percent=1&key=category)

The proportional losses of these longer range weapons are much lower, to be expected. If the supposed composition is close to reality, there are huge remnants of artillery and AA batteries from a large number of battered BTGs. A big reason why massive destruction in Ukrainian cities is still happening even after the local Russian offensive runs out of steam from massive losses.

So how much did Russians lose?

Looking at [total armor loss](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?categories=Trucks%2C+Vehicles+and+Jeeps%7EEngineering+Vehicles%7EArmoured+Fighting+Vehicles&key=category&count=total) and [logistics](https://dos077.github.io/oryx-rvu2022-visualization/?categories=Trucks%2C+Vehicles+and+Jeeps%7EEngineering+Vehicles&key=category&count=total), we can see that Russia has lost at least 16 to 17 whole BTG worth of armors and supply vehicles. That’s about 10% of what their claimed total standing force, or about 15% of the forces originally deployed for the invasion. However, these are just visually confirmed losses, the real losses are likely higher and spread out. A BTG losing half its armor or logistic vehicle is not really a BTG any more. Up to 20\~30% of the Russian units may be in shambles.