Video in support, the Russian army claimed this Tuesday, June 13 to have succeeded in capturing German-made Leopard tanks and American-made Bradley tanks. These powerful vehicles had been ceded by the West to kyiv in order to better lead the Ukrainian counter-offensive.
“Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. Now these are our trophies,” the Russian Defense Ministry posted on Telegram, accompanying its message with a video taken over the phone showing several damaged military vehicles. According to him, these Western-made vehicles were “captured in battle” by the Russian soldiers of the “East” group.
“Some of the combat vehicles have working engines, indicating that the battle was short-lived and the Ukrainian crews fled,” the Russian ministry said, adding that it captured them in the Zaporizhia region, in southern Ukraine. This is the first time that Russia has announced that it has captured Leopard tanks since they were supplied to Ukraine by several Western countries. Berlin had given the green light in January to their delivery after initial hesitation.
Russia does not specify whether it is Leopard 1 or 2, the two generations of these armored vehicles. This announcement comes in a context of heavy fighting, particularly in southern Ukraine, where Kiev forces have launched an offensive against the first positions occupied by the Russians.
The Ukrainian authorities have claimed the capture of seven villages after more than a week of fighting, which are still several tens of kilometers from the main Russian defense lines in this part of the front. The Russian Ministry of Defense had already released a video on Saturday showing a column of destroyed Western-made tanks and armored vehicles, some still smoking carcasses, in the south of the Donetsk region.