Pure propaganda: the Wagner group did not shoot down any Leopard-2.
The message is fake.
But the Kremlin is spreading information about the tank's weak point.
Moscow/Kiev – For some it is considered a game changer in the Ukraine war: the Leopard-2.
After long negotiations, the German tanks will soon be delivered to the Ukraine several times.
They are not there yet.
But the Wagner group has already announced that it has been shot down.
But that's fake, as the Swiss tabloid
20 minutes
has now clearly demonstrated in a report
.
The squad published the shooting on Sunday (February 26) on their Telegram channel and allegedly documented it with a photo.
But the photo was taken five years ago in Syria
.
The recording was verifiably dated February 5, 2018 and was originally
published on the Russian military news site
topwar.ru , which is subject to strict controls by Russian censors, the media report said.
Wagner boss Prigozhin denies that Leopard 2 was shot down in the Ukraine war and spreads new allegations
Apparently the Wagner group had used the picture for propaganda purposes in the Ukraine war.
Because the following was read on the Wagner Telegram channel: “Today, soldiers of the Wagner group destroyed the first Leopard 2 tank near the village of Jahidne. The fighters hit the German tank with an anti-tank missile, the turret was demolished and the Polish ones -German mercenary crew was destroyed.”
+
Leopard 2A6 tanks at the military training area.
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
After a request from the Russian news agency
Tass
to the Wagner boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, he finally denied the shooting.
According to Tass
, however, he
claimed that the first main battle tanks that were delivered from the West were already being used at the front without a trained crew.
Russian secret paper shows weaknesses in Leopard 2 and other main battle tanks
In fact, only a few main battle tanks have been delivered to Ukraine by the western allies.
Nevertheless, Russia is already preparing for military support for Ukraine from the West and has a missile system that the Russian army could use against Leopard 2 tanks.
In addition, there is a secret document from the Russian Ministry of Defense that is intended to prepare the Russian armed forces for battles with tanks from the West.
This is reported by the
editorial network Germany (RND)
.
The paper, available to the
RND
, states: "On the battlefield, tanks are the most dangerous." On 26 pages, a kind of manual from the Soviet T72 and T64 to the Leopard 2 would show all tank models to which Russian armed forces in the could hit Ukraine.
Potential vulnerabilities are presented in it.
In addition to the chassis, the sides, the rear, the top of the hull and the turret, as well as the observation and sighting devices, are the most vulnerable areas.
A video has been circulating on the YouTube Internet platform for several days that is supposed to show how Leopard 2 tanks could be hit.
Further videos are intended to show the strengths of the main battle tank, which is to be delivered to Ukraine from other European countries in addition to Germany.
For Russia's war of aggression: Secret paper to train several hundred thousand drafted Russians
According to
RND,
there is nothing new in the manual for trained soldiers.
However, the Russian Ministry of Defense probably wants to use the secret paper to reach the several hundred thousand conscripts who have been mobilized in Russia.
According to
RND
information, after the first mobilization in the fall with 300,000 Russians, another 80,000 were sent directly to the front without extensive military training.
The secret document could also be used to train the 220,000 Russians who are currently being prepared for the front in Russian and Belarusian military camps.
According to RND
, Ukraine is to
receive 200 Leopard 2 main battle tanks in the coming months.
There are also 14 British Challenger 2 and 31 M1 Abrams.
These models are detailed in the Russian Defense Ministry paper.
(
Clemens Dörrenberg)
List of rubrics: © Federico Gambarini/dpa