Ukrainian troops have probably lost their first Challenger 2 tank.
The loss of Challenger 2 was confirmed by the Minister of Defense of Great Britain Grant Shapps on Sky News. According to Shapps, the tank was hit by artillery.
Instead, The Guardian, with reference to Western special services, reports that the car blew up on a mine and its fuel tank caught fire. The crew left the tank, after which the drone hit the empty tank.
The Guardian writes that this is the first time a Challenger 2 has been lost in combat since an incident in Iraq in 2003, when the tank was hit by friendly fire.
Footage of a broken tank near the village of Robotyne appeared on social networks on September 5. The car belonged to the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade.
- Great Britain informed about the supply of Challenger 2 to Ukraine in March 2023. 14 tanks were handed over to the Ukrainian military.
- Previously, Forbes and the OSINT project reported the loss of five Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks. According to data at the end of August, 10 more such tanks were damaged along with them. All the crews survived.