Russia’s armed forces destroyed or captured 11 German-made Leopard tanks in Ukraine last week, supplied by the West to Ukrainian troops, the Russian news agency TASS reported on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction or seizure of eight Leopard tanks on June 6, in the Donetsk region (east), and three more in the Zaporizhia area (south) during a night offensive two days later.
The total cost of the tanks lost by the Ukrainian forces could amount to more than 6.1 million dollars (5.6 million euros at current exchange rates), according to TASS calculations.
The Russian agency also reported that some of the tanks were seized “in perfect working order.”
Russian forces said they also seized US-made Bradley infantry fighting tanks.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing soldiers inspecting some of the equipment it said was captured in combat.
“Some vehicles had their engines running, which indicates (…) the flight of crews of combat vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the ministry was quoted as saying by TASS.
This is the first time that the Russian military announces the capture of this type of German and American weapons in the war in Ukraine, which Moscow invaded on February 24, 2022.
Ukraine is on a counter-offensive after receiving new weapons from the Western allies, including Leopards and Bradleys.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has warned that Germany will not be able to replace tanks damaged in combat in Ukraine.
“We are not going to be able to replace all the tanks that stop working,” Pistorius told German television RTL on Monday night, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
So far, Germany has provided or promised kyiv 110 Leopard 1 tanks and 18 Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
Ukraine has been asking Western allies to speed up the delivery of military equipment.
“The Ukrainian army urgently needs many more Western main battle tanks, armored infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles,” Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrij Melnyk told German daily Tagesspiegel on Monday.
Pistorius refused to confirm the authenticity of the images showing Leopard 2 tanks destroyed by Russia.
Unfortunately, “it is part of the nature of war that guns and tanks are destroyed and men are killed. That is why our support for Ukraine is so important,” he only commented.
Information published by the two sides about the course of the war cannot be immediately verified by independent sources.
The Ukraine conflict plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The number of civilian and military casualties is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, have admitted that it will be high.
Source: TSF
