The US military has refused to confirm the destruction of American-made armored vehicles during Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia. The statement came after Moscow released videos of charred M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles abandoned by Kiev’s troops.
“I’ve seen the reports but I can’t corroborate some of the video and imagery coming out of that,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Tuesday. “I just wouldn’t be able to confirm the reports... at least what we’re seeing from [the] Russians.”
Tuesday’s announcement that the US will be sending more Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles to Kiev – as part of a $325 million package drawn from Pentagon stockpiles – was not a response to battlefield losses and was planned in advance, Singh insisted.
“Something that went into our calculations when we provided this equipment to the Ukrainians is that there could be battlefield losses and damages as the fight continues,” she said.
Last month, the Pentagon and the State Department dismissed photo and video evidence of US-supplied equipment being used by Ukraine to attack Russia’s Belgorod Region as “fuzzy pictures on social media.”
The first images of the destroyed Bradleys emerged on June 9, showing equipment later identified as belonging to Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade. In addition to several Bradleys, the photos and videos showed a knocked-out German-made Leopard 2 tank. A new video surfaced on Tuesday, showing Russian soldiers recovering the Western-made armor.
According to the Dutch-based weapons-tracking website Oryx, Ukraine lost four regular and three mine-clearing Leopard 2s, as well as 16 Bradleys.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a group of Russian war correspondents on Tuesday that Ukraine had lost “at least 160 tanks and 360 armored vehicles” during its recent counteroffensive.