©Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS
Russian forces wiped out 16 German-made Leopard tanks or actually 100% of this armor supplied to the Kiev regime by Poland and Portugal, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a conference call with military commanders on Monday.
"In the south Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Donetsk directions alone where Ukrainian armed formations are undertaking unsuccessful attacks, the groupings of Russian forces destroyed 15 aircraft, three helicopters and 920 pieces of armor, including 16 Leopard tanks. This is actually 100% of the tanks of this type supplied by Poland and Portugal," the defense chief said.
The Russian armed forces continue effectively inflicting damage on the enemy by firepower, which considerably diminishes its offensive potential, Shoigu said.
In all, Ukrainian troops have lost about 2,500 various armaments in all directions since June 4. In addition, Russian air defense forces intercepted 158 rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and 25 Storm Shadow cruise missiles over the past month, the defense chief said.
The enemy has not achieved its objectives in any of the frontline sectors, which testifies to the skills of Russian fighters and "clearly too high expectations from much-touted Western weapons," Shoigu said.
Ukrainian troops have been employing German-made Leopard tanks since they launched their counteroffensive on June 4. The Russian Defense Ministry has repeatedly reported the destruction of these tanks.
In a similar update on June 22, senior Russian officials said Ukraine had lost 13 Leopard tanks. The tanks were taken out since June 4 in the southern part of the frontline, along with 15 planes, three military helicopters and over 900 armored vehicles, Shoigu claimed during a ministerial meeting.
The date is considered by Russia to be the start of Kiev’s counteroffensive, in which Western tanks were expected to give Ukrainian troops an edge. According to the Russian minister, “overall the enemy failed to reach its objectives on any direction,” which proves the mastery of Russian soldiers and “obviously inflated expectations put on the much-praised Western weapons.”
He further claimed that Ukraine’s foreign backers were pressuring Kiev to continue assaults on Russian positions despite the loss of some 2,500 pieces of heavy weaponry so far.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that after their failure to break through Russian defense lines, the Ukrainian forces have been keeping Western weapons away from the frontline and ceased major attacks.
The article detailed the experience of a Ukrainian tank crew, who were trained to operate Leopard 2 tanks in Germany. They said their side was “shocked” by the scale of Russia’s preparations for the counteroffensive.
Scholz explains Ukraine weapons refusal
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said Berlin is reluctant to provide longer-range munitions to Kiev out of concern for a possible escalation should Ukraine decide to use them to strike Russian territory.
In a wide-ranging interview with the German state-TV channel ARD on Sunday, the chancellor was asked why Berlin refuses to supply Kiev with long-range cruise missiles.
“We carefully check all the requests we receive. But for us there is a principle that I share with the US president – we do not want the weapons we supply to be used to attack Russian territories,” Scholz told ARD journalist Tina Hassel.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reportedly told Scholz during their meeting in Berlin back in May that Kiev “urgently wants” Swedish-German Taurus KEPD 350 missiles. The air-launched munition is armed with a 500kg warhead and can travel up to 500km (310 miles).
Over the course of the conflict, Ukraine has demanded increasingly sophisticated weapon systems from its Western backers. Kiev has intensified calls for NATO to supply it with fighter jets – specifically the US-made F-16 – in recent months, after securing a pledge for dozens of Leopard 2 and 1, M1 Abrams, and Challenger 2 main battle tanks from multiple EU countries, the US, and the UK.
French President Emmanuel Macron followed suit with a promise his country will also provide Kiev with its variant of the Storm Shadow, called SCALP-EGs, although it remains unknown when they will be delivered.
Washington has yet to approve the supply of its long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). Manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the MGM-140 ATACMS is a tactical ballistic missile with a range of up to 300km (190 miles). The missiles can be fired from the M270 MLRS or M142 HIMARS platforms, both of which the US has already given to Ukraine.
However, weeks into a much-touted Ukrainian counteroffensive which has thus far failed to yield any big gains, the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the decision to send ATACMS is now “pending approval at the highest levels.”
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