Ukraine war: Russia presents tractor as destroyed Leopard 2 battle tank
- Russia’s military claimed a prize hit in Ukraine: the German-made Leopard 2 main battle tank
- But nationalist Russian military bloggers said Moscow’s success report was not accurate
Russia’s Defence Ministry has reported the thwarting of Ukraine’s major offensive and the destruction of Leopard battle tanks – but apparently presented false pictures as evidence.
The video showed the destruction of a tractor, the pro-Russian military blog Voyenny Osvedomitel said on Tuesday after viewing the images. “It then went into the defence ministry’s reports as the Leopard 2,” the blog post assessed.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had earlier announced the destruction of eight Leopard main battle tanks, among other things, in unusually detailed statement reporting on alleged losses by both Russia and Ukraine.
He said Ukraine lost 3,715 men over three days, as well as 52 tanks and 207 armoured vehicles. Russia lost 71 soldiers and 210 were wounded over the same period in the battles. Russia lost 15 Russian tanks and nine armoured vehicles, he said.
Other Russian military bloggers also criticised the success report as an obvious hoax. According to the nationalist blogger Fighterbomber, the pictures were taken last year. At that time, Kyiv did not yet have Western Leopard main battle tanks.