Russia shows video of captured Ukrainian Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

 

Screengrab of one of the captured Leopards. Reuters.

Russia shows video of captured Ukrainian Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Reuters. The Russian Defense Ministry said that they captured the vehicles on the Zaporizhzhia front, where Ukraine had launched their long-awaited offensive. Two tanks and two Bradley's were shown on the video, with the engines still running on some of them, which could show how quickly the retreat and abandonment came. The offensive for Ukraine has not gone well with several areas they captured having already been recaptured by Russian forces. 

My Comment:

More evidence that the offensive in Ukraine is not going well. These vehicles were not destroyed, they were abandoned. They were hit and the soldiers inside fled. Keep in mind these vehicles belonged to the western trained Ukrainians who were the best of what's left and they have failed. 

It is, of course, a propaganda coup for Russia. These captured vehicles will be paraded through Moscow and probably made into permanent propaganda pieces. It shows that NATO forces are indeed beatable and that Ukraine is not doing well in their latest offensive. It should be a boost of morale for Russian fighters and civilians. 

Compare the actual results to what the NATO trolls were saying when the deliveries of Leopard tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles were announced. If you listened to them you would think that they were going to drive all the way to Moscow with these weapons, with no casualties to boot! 

In reality modern warfare is exceptionally brutal and casualties were always going to be high. Tanks and IFV's are no match for airstrikes, anti-tank missiles, mines and drones. Sure, the Leopards and Bradley's are from the last generation of vehicles, but even if the tanks were new they would still be taking heavy casualties due to the environment they are operating in. 

This makes me wonder if the same thing will happen our M1 Abrams that we are supposedly sending to Ukraine. They are a bit more advanced than the Leopards but not by much and I don't see them able to withstand a full scale assault into Russian territory. Especially without the combined arms conditions that the tanks were designed to fight in.  

It makes me wonder if those tanks will ever even make it to Ukraine in the first place. The United States has good reason to not want their premiere battle tank destroyed or, even worse, captured and paraded by the Russians. If that happens why would other countries want to buy our tanks?