MOD releases video of ‘Russian forces destroying NATO-supplied tanks’
Russia’s Defense Ministry has released a video it claims shows Western-supplied equipment being destroyed during fighting in Ukraine. The footage, published on Tuesday, shows what the ministry stated was a German-made Leopard tank being hit by a Russian anti-tank missile.
The black-and-white video shows four pieces of heavy equipment, one of which resembles a German-made Leopard tank standing with its turret turned to the side. The footage then shows a missile striking the vehicle. It also features imagery of other – apparently Ukrainian – pieces of heavy equipment being struck from various distances.
The video was released a day after the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that eight Leopard tanks and three French-manufactured AMX-10 wheeled tanks had been destroyed by Russian forces on Monday as they successfully repelled a large-scale attack by Ukrainian troops in several parts of Donetsk and Zaporozhye Regions.
Kiev lost more than 1,500 servicemen, 28 tanks and 109 other armored vehicles in the botched offensive on Monday, the ministry said in a statement. Ukrainian troops tried for several days to attack Russian positions, the ministry stated, adding that such attempts were unsuccessful.
Ukraine's total losses over the three days of fighting amounted to 3,715 service members, 52 tanks, 207 armored fighting vehicles, five aircraft, two helicopters and 48 artillery pieces, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in a statement on Tuesday.
Russia lost 71 servicemen, 15 tanks, nine infantry fighting vehicles and nine artillery pieces over the same period, the minister added.
The Defense Ministry had earlier published a separate video showing NATO-supplied military equipment, including several MRAP vehicles, being destroyed by Russian strikes.
Kiev has not commented on the supposed losses. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Maliar confirmed only that Ukrainian forces had launched “offensive actions” in certain areas. She also described the clashes in the southern part of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye Region as “local fighting.”
