- Russia released a video claiming it captured German-made Leopard tanks and US fighting vehicles.
- The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the assets were captured in the Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia released a video on Tuesday claiming that its forces have captured German-made Leopard tanks and US-provided Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, armor assets sent by Western partners to fuel a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The video, shared on Twitter by OSINTdefender, showed two captured Leopard 2A6 tanks and a few M2A2 Bradleys. Russian troops filming the video claimed the tanks and vehicles were abandoned by Ukrainian forces after fierce fighting along the front of the Zaporizhzhia region, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces are pushing against Russian lines.
—OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 13, 2023
The German-made Leopard tank is a capable third-generation main battle tank that was promised to Ukraine along with British Challenger tanks and American Abrams tanks and arrived in Ukraine in February and March. The American-made Bradleys, which were confirmed to be in Ukraine in April, are tracked armored vehicles that can carry infantry and provide mobile fire support for other forces.
The video posted by OSINTdefender of what Russia claims are captured tanks and fighting vehicles was originally released by the Russian Defense Ministry on their official Telegram channel on Tuesday, Reuters said in a report on the footage and associated claims. The ministry referred to the assets as "our trophies" and said Ukrainian troops left the engines running when they abandoned the tanks and armored vehicles.
Insider was unable to verify Russia's claims, nor was it able to independently verify when and where the video was filmed.
According to OSINTdefender, it's the first time Russia has released video footage of equipment it's claimed to have captured in battle.
The video comes as Ukraine conducts counteroffensive operations in a few different areas of the front lines, including Zaporizhzhia. Kyiv's troops have made some gains in recent days, The Institute for the Study of War said, while Russian forces have launched smaller counterattacks in response to Ukrainian assaults.