The Ukrainian armed forces have lost what appears to be one of the fifteenth 82nd Air Assault Brigade’s ex-British Challengers 2 that the United Kingdom pledged to Kiev as the vehicle was destroyed in combat near the contested southeastern village of Robotyne in the Zaporozhye Region.
“Russian forces fighting in southern Ukraine have destroyed a British-supplied Challenger 2 tank for the first time, a Russian-backed official said on Tuesday, releasing what he said was a video of its smoldering wreckage.
Ukraine in March thanked Britain for what it said were the ‘fantastic machines’ after London sent Kiev 14 of its Challenger 2 main battle tanks ahead of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-installed official in part of the southern Zaporizhzhia region which is under Moscow's control, said on Telegram that a Challenger 2 had been set alight in fighting near the southeastern village of Robotyne.
He said the tank belonged to the Ukrainian army's 82nd brigade and was meant to have reached Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, but had instead been destroyed on what he said was the first line of Russian defense.
A video Rogov posted on Telegram showed what looked like a tank on fire by a roadside with thick grey smoke rising from it.
Reuters could not immediately confirm Rogov's assertion.
Russia has previously announced that its forces have destroyed German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks and U.S. fighting vehicles along with other hardware supplied to Ukraine by countries such as France and Denmark”. -Andrew Osborn, Reuters
The British “wunderpanzers“ are failing to wreak havoc on the Russian lines as was forecasted by London prior to supplying the Challenger 2 tanks to Kiev.
Not only have they not succeeded in breaking through the Russian defense, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are now in a worse position than they were three months ago when they had somewhat of a strategic advantage in being able to choose the direction of where to strike, whereas, now, Ukraine has made its bed and it must lie in it.