Drone footage shows the first German-made Leopard 2 tank being destroyed in Ukraine, with Germany’s Bild newspaper confirming the tank is indeed the advanced main battle tank. The footage comes at the same time that U.S. officials, while speaking with CNN, indicated that Ukraine is facing “significant” losses during its offensive.
The drone footage shows a Ukrainian column of armored vehicles that consists of German-made Leopard 2 tanks, although they are not the latest, A7 iteration, but the A4, which is three generations older. These tanks are traveling together with U.S.-made M113 armored personnel carriers. The drone footage shows that the column came under artillery fire, with one of the Leopards catching on fire and smoking.
The footage comes after a number of reports of German Leopards being destroyed by the Russian side turned out to be fabrications; however, this footage appears authentic.
Although it is only one tank, Russian Telegram and Twitter channels cheered the news of the tank’s destruction. These channels have been posting numerous clips over the last few days depicting heavy losses on the Ukrainian side following the launch of Ukraine’s long-awaited offensive.
Ukraine reportedly has dozens of Leopard 2 tanks, as well as British-made Challenger tanks, and these vehicles remain a formidable threat to Russian forces. It is currently unclear what kind of combat operations these Western tanks have been involved in and whether any others have been destroyed.
Although the Russians have held their lines against the Ukrainian forces, Dmitry Rogozin, who is at the front with a group of military advisers, reportedly warned the Russians to not celebrate prematurely:
“I do not share the joyful reports about the ‘defeat of the enemy.’
Yes, we repulsed the first attack. Yes, well done. But the enemy has not yet introduced the main forces of the breakthrough, primarily large tank wedges, and has not driven them into our forward positions. And they are only in the vicinity of Orekhov in the most tank-dangerous direction — about 600 tanks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, not counting the infantry fighting vehicles.
Therefore, it is too early to rejoice, gentlemen. First, let’s win, and only then we will ‘throw caps into the air.'”
German Leopard 2 tanks and the British Challenger tanks are generally considered by experts to be superior tanks to anything Russia has in its arsenal. However, the Ukrainian army is going up against highly fortified defensive positions, which include complex networks of mines and targeted artillery fire.
According to CNN, U.S. sources have indicated that Ukraine has faced “stiffer resistance” than advisors initially believed would be the case, resulting in heavy equipment losses. One U.S. official described the losses as “significant.”
However, according to CNN, “Both US officials say the losses are not expected to impact the larger planned Ukrainian counteroffensive. US and Western officials long expected the counteroffensive to take time and put Ukrainian personnel and equipment, including Western-supplied systems, at high risk.”
The coming days and weeks are expected to be what is perhaps the decisive chapter in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with the outcome of the latest counteroffensive featuring potentially vast geopolitical consequences.
