Some images said to be German-made Leopard 2A6 tanks (far left) and US Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (far right) destroyed in Ukraine. (Source: Twitter)

The newspaper cited images on Twitter showing Leopard tanks donated to Ukraine, likely participating in a counterattack. In addition, Politico noted, some videos circulating on social media showed the destruction of US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

The authors of the article commented: “Other images of many destroyed or abandoned armored vehicles appearing online show that the Ukrainian counterattack has encountered significant resistance. This is the first, very early stage of the campaign. Mechanized warfare will not be easy for Ukraine. Russia has more or less succeeded in repelling the counterattack.”

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the VSU had suffered huge losses in the counterattack. A Russian military website said that in just the past few days, Ukraine had lost 3,700 soldiers, 52 tanks (including 8 Leopard 2 tanks), 3 French AMX-10s, 207 armored vehicles, 134 military vehicles, 5 planes, 2 helicopters, 48 ​​artillery pieces and 53 UAVs.

On the same day, the Telegram channel “Yasinovataya, Donbass on the Front Line” reported that the Russian military captured two French-made AMX-10RC wheeled tanks, currently in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine (VSU), in the Novodonetskoye settlement, Velikonovoselkovsky district of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), while repelling an attack by Ukrainian units.

According to Russian soldiers at the scene, the wheeled tanks are more like armored reconnaissance vehicles. The two vehicles are currently in completely intact condition, undamaged and fully loaded with ammunition. In addition to the wheeled tanks, soldiers from the Russian Interior Ministry's Special Operations Brigade (OBON) also seized a mobile phone monitoring station, which detects, identifies and controls UAVs.

For his part, in his daily speech, although he did not directly mention the upcoming counter-offensive or the conflict situation on the ground, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized: “To our soldiers, to all those who are fighting in particularly difficult areas these days, we see your heroism. We are grateful to you every minute.”