Drone footage confirms destroyed Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia

A British-made challenger 2 tank, which had not seen any combat loss hitherto, has been destroyed in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia.

The tank, one of the 14 of its type the UK sent to Ukraine early this year, was seen lying destroyed near the Rabotino village in Zaporizhzia in southern-Ukraine in a viral video, Russia Today claimed.

A video, showing a Challenger 2 tank on fire, emerged online on Monday. It was reportedly taken by Ukrainian servicemen driving tank as it emitted a thick plume of black smoke. The video also showed an abandoned Ukrainian T-64 tank, a damaged BMP-family infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), and several disabled armored and soft cars.

Stills from a drone video shared on Russian Telegram on Tuesday appeared to confirm the destruction of the tank. The pictures also showed a pile of destroyed Ukrainian vehicles near the tank: two Soviet-era BMP-1 IFVs, a US-made M113 armored personnel carrier missing its turret, AND a soft pickup truck.

This is the first combat loss reported for a Challenger 2 ever, not just Ukraine. The tank has served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Iraq, and besides a unit lost to a friendly fire in Iraq it has never been lost to an enemy.

Southern-Ukraine has been the center of intense fighting in the recent days as Ukraine pushes southwards to reach the Sea of Azov and cut the Russian forces in the east and south.

Meanwhile on the ground, Ukrainian army has made it to the “final layer” of the Russian defence line in southern Zaporizhia, according to George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

“Ukrainian forces continue pressuring the line between Verbove and Robotyne and may be setting conditions to breach the line in earnest,” Barros was quoted as saying by Telegraph.