Russia has destroyed 15 Leopard II tanks and 20 Bradley Fighting Vehicles in 24 hours, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed. Russia also claims to have eliminated a large number of Western PMCs fighting in Ukraine.
Speaking to President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, claimed that Moscow’s forces had taken out at least 15 German-made Leopard tanks and over 20 US-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles in a single battle, Russia Today reports.
Putin claimed that “[we] have never destroyed so much in one day”, noting that Ukrainian units were “fully equipped with foreign hardware.”
Putin also claimed that Russia had eliminated a number of Western mercenaries serving in Ukraine, blaming their “stupidity.” The PMCs were reported to include Polish and German volunteers.
Last week, the New York Times reported that the Ukrainian military had lost 20% of its battlefield equipment, including many Western-provided vehicles, in the first two weeks of the offensive. On July 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed Ukraine had lost 26,000 men losses and 3,000 units of hardware in the Ukrainian counteroffensive since June 4.
media reports suggested Kiev’s Western backers are alarmed at Ukraine’s slow progress on the battlefield, with the Wall Street Journal claiming that they were also “jolted” by the “swift loss” of armor.
