Russian television (RT) aired a segment ** showing a German Leopard 2A4 tank being captured by Russian forces in the "Zaporizhzhia direction" in southeastern Ukraine. For the first time on record, a tank of this model was captured in the area.
According to the Russian military, the tank originally belonged to the 33rd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was formed at the beginning of this year and may have been equipped with nearly 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks donated by Western countries. The tanks were armed with 120-mm smoothbore guns and came from Norway, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Poland and Germany.
At the beginning of September, there was a secret base in Ukraine, where more than a dozen Leopard 1A4 tanks with Contact-2** reactive armor (ERA) installed were parked. The Contact-1 is a Soviet-made type of reactive armor that reduces damage when hit by armor-piercing shells or anti-tank missiles (ATGMs). The shape of the Contact-1 charge block had 314x148 mm and was fixed in the exposed parts of the turret and chassis.
The Leopard 2A4 tank, which was captured by the Russians, was also fitted with Contact-1 reactive armor, suggesting that the Ukrainians realized in July of this year that their Leopard tank lacked protection against Russian anti-tank **. However, this protection apparently did not work, as the tank did not appear to have been attacked in any way, but was only abandoned by the crew members, probably because of the loss of confidence in the face of a strong Russian attack.
The main Russian Telegram channel "Solovievlive" also published some **, showing the soldiers of the 71st Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment and the 42nd Motorized Rifle Regiment striking a victorious pose next to this abandoned Leopard 2A4 tank. The soldiers all wore the Order of Russian Courage in recognition of their bravery in the evacuation of damaged armored vehicles from the battlefield.
One of them is the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, which was also captured by the Russians in Ukraine and shown on local television. This Bradley tank belongs to the M2A2-ODS model and is armed with a 25-mm Viper M242 automatic gun and 762 mm coaxial gun. The ammunition belts for these guns are also shown, as well as instructions in Ukrainian that teach how to reload the guns.
Ukrainian soldiers reportedly tried to inflict some damage on the Bradley tank with firearms before abandoning it to prevent the Russians from taking advantage of it. Several bullet holes were visible in the body, but this did not affect the operation of the vehicle. "In Ukraine, they made these overlays and translated everything into Ukrainian," the journalist said in **. I have a 360 degree view inside and everything is in English. ”
A soldier involved in the capture of the Bradley recalled the course of their operation. "Taking advantage of the weather conditions, drive directly in front of him and drive the car out. It is located right in the middle between our positions and the enemy, at a distance of 500 meters from the enemy. He said. They towed the Bradley with an armored rescue vehicle, but on the way came under enemy fire and anti-tank missiles. The armored rescue vehicle also triggered a mine, as a result of which the driver was injured. The Bradley tank also broke down in tow, and they had to go on top of it with another armored car. "They dragged it for about two hundred meters (M2A2 broke down); They had to stand up and start ramming the nearest parked vehicle. He added.
The two-hour evacuation was dangerous and complex, and all participants were rewarded for it. The Russian Telegram channel "milinfolive" said that "(hopefully) this time we will be able to pull the leopard from the battlefield to the rear". They were referring to another captured Leopard 2A4 tank, which could be more valuable than the Bradley tank, since it could be used for reverse engineering and studying military secrets. In the case of Bradley, however, the Russians seem to be more concerned with the effectiveness of propaganda and public relations (PR) than the importance of secrecy.