The Ukrainian military is advancing into the Zaporizhzhia region. Russia is attacking a Ukrainian main battle tank with artillery.
Zaporizhzhia – Ukraine's much-heralded counteroffensive against Russia has recently been launched. In the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, too, there has been heavy fighting between the two parties to the Ukraine war in recent days. The Ukrainian military used modern battle tanks from the West against Putin's defensive wall. Now a German-supplied Leopard 2 tank has been destroyed by the Russian military.
Although the shooting down of a German Leo tank was recently exposed as a propaganda lie, this time, according to Bild, the information about the destruction of the tank should be credible. A video from the Russian Ministry of Defense shows a Leopard 2 tank being attacked by artillery fire. After that, smoke rises from the hit tank and it seems to be no longer operational. Whether the crew was able to save itself is still unclear.
First Leopard 2 tank destroyed by Russian military: push for Ukraine becomes tricky
The advance of President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops is said to have taken place south of Orichiv. It is already likely that the soldiers' attack in this direction will be particularly severe. The Russians are said to have been building resilient defensive lines in the east and south of Ukraine for half a year. Among them are several anti-tank barriers and mine belts.
The German Leopard 2 tank is used as a high-tech weapon in the Ukraine war. Now one is said to have been destroyed by Russian artillery fire. (Symbolic image) © Federico Gambarini/dpa
According to Bild, the defenses of Vladimir Putin's army will not stop the Ukrainians completely, but they will severely slow down their counteroffensive. This makes it easier for the Russian military to destroy the attacking Ukrainian battle tanks, for example, through precise artillery strikes. In order to prevent this, the government in Kiev is relying on the German self-propelled howitzer 2000 to eliminate Russian positions. (Jakob von Sass)