The main Russian troops in Ukraine on Tuesday said they had captured German Leopard tanks and American Bradley tanks.
The Russian army claimed in a video Tuesday, June 13, that it had captured German-made Leopard tanks and US-made Bradley armored vehicles for the first time on the front lines in Ukraine, which the West was using for its counteroffensive in Kiev had delivered.
“Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. These are our trophies now,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram, attaching to its message a video filmed on the phone showing several damaged military vehicles. According to him, these Western-made vehicles were “captured in battle” by Russian soldiers of the “East” group.
“Some of the combat vehicles have working engines, suggesting that the battle was short-lived and the Ukrainian crews fled,” the Russian ministry said, adding that it captured them in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine .
A first
This is the first time Russia has announced it has captured Leopard tanks since they were supplied to Ukraine by several Western countries. After initial hesitation, Berlin gave the green light for the delivery in January. Russia does not specify whether it is Leopard 1 or 2, the two generations of these armored vehicles.
This announcement comes against a background of fierce fighting, particularly in southern Ukraine, where Kyiv forces have launched an offensive against the first Russian-held positions. After more than a week of fighting, the Ukrainian authorities have claimed to have taken seven villages, which are still several tens of kilometers away from the main Russian defense lines in this part of the front.
The Russian Defense Ministry released video earlier on Saturday showing a column of destroyed western tanks and armored vehicles, some of which still had their bodies smoking, in southern Donetsk region.