The captured NATO hardware was abandoned by Ukrainians in battle, the Defense Ministry has claimed
The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage which it said shows Russian troops in Zaporozhye Region inspecting NATO-supplied armor that they captured from its Ukrainian operators.
The video released on Tuesday appears to show an excited Russian soldier circling several damaged pieces of equipment, including a German-made Leopard 2 main battle tank and US-produced Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. He remarked that some of their engines were still running.
“This [explicit] hardware is not as scary as it seemed,” the man is heard saying.
The ministry, which shared the clip on social media, called the Western vehicles “our trophies” and argued that the condition in which they were found “indicates the rapid pace of the engagement and the abandonment of the battle-ready hardware by the Ukrainian armed forces.”
As Kiev was preparing for its counteroffensive against Russia, Western nations supplied it with dozens of armored vehicles, including main battle tanks. Ukrainian officials, including Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov, touted the donated “panzerfist” as a gamechanger in the conflict.
The operation was finally launched last week and has so far failed to bring any dramatic changes on the frontline. Moscow says it has thwarted all Ukrainian attempts to break through its defensive lines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the losses of the Ukrainian army “impressive” and blamed the country’s government for taking actions that pushed the situation to the current “tragic” state.
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