02:10'We'll manage' - Russian tank operator on potential encounter with German-made Leopard 2
A tank driver and mechanic with the Russian Armed forces gave his assessment of a potential encounter with the German-made Leopard 2 on the battlefield, as he was seen preparing his kit in the Ugledar suburbs of the Donetsk People’s Republic on Wednesday.
"If we encounter a Leopard or (UK-supplied) Challenger of the same model year as our tanks, I think we will be able to deal with them successfully. For one simple reason: a lot depends not on the equipment itself, but on the training of the crew. We have combat experience, we're well trained," claimed the operator named Grigory.
"I think we will cope with it. Maybe not without problems, but we'll manage," he added.
Grigory also commented on the situation on the ground, as he saw it.
"The situation can be called tense, after all there is an attack on Ugledar, as you all know, but let's just say we are advancing successfully. We are advancing successfully, albeit slowly, because the command takes care of its people," he continued.
Meanwhile, the daily morning report of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff claimed that "over the past 24 hours, Defence Forces units repelled attacks by the occupying forces near Chervonopopovka in Lugansk Region, Verkhnekamenskoe, Spornoe, Rozdolovka, Blagodatnoe, Bakhmut, Kleshcheevka, Marinka, Ugledar and Pavlovka in Donetsk Region".
On Wednesday, the German government approved the supply of 14 Leopard tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that this decision was the result of 'intensive consultations' with allies and international partners.
Later that day, US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would also deliver 31 M-1 Abrams tanks, claiming they were intended to help Kiev 'defend and protect Ukrainian land’ and did not pose 'an offensive threat’ to Russia.
Both leaders claimed that Ukrainian troops would be supplied with the necessary training.
Norway, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Finland, and Portugal have also previously announced their readiness to send stocks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his allies for the decision to send 'modern and very necessary' equipment and called for jets and long-range missiles too.
On Thursday, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that Moscow saw the supply of weapons by Western countries to Ukraine as 'direct involvement' in the conflict.
Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev said that Germany was set on 'permanent escalation' and the 'unlimited pumping of the Kiev regime with more and more lethal weapons'.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is one of four regions, also including the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporozhye, that President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow to join the Russian Federation, signing accession documents on September 30.
According to Moscow, it followed referenda in which people living in those areas exercised their right to self-determination and requested to join Russia.
Ukraine and its international allies condemned the move, calling it an annexation of Kiev’s sovereign territory.
02:10A tank driver and mechanic with the Russian Armed forces gave his assessment of a potential encounter with the German-made Leopard 2 on the battlefield, as he was seen preparing his kit in the Ugledar suburbs of the Donetsk People’s Republic on Wednesday.
"If we encounter a Leopard or (UK-supplied) Challenger of the same model year as our tanks, I think we will be able to deal with them successfully. For one simple reason: a lot depends not on the equipment itself, but on the training of the crew. We have combat experience, we're well trained," claimed the operator named Grigory.
"I think we will cope with it. Maybe not without problems, but we'll manage," he added.
Grigory also commented on the situation on the ground, as he saw it.
"The situation can be called tense, after all there is an attack on Ugledar, as you all know, but let's just say we are advancing successfully. We are advancing successfully, albeit slowly, because the command takes care of its people," he continued.
Meanwhile, the daily morning report of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff claimed that "over the past 24 hours, Defence Forces units repelled attacks by the occupying forces near Chervonopopovka in Lugansk Region, Verkhnekamenskoe, Spornoe, Rozdolovka, Blagodatnoe, Bakhmut, Kleshcheevka, Marinka, Ugledar and Pavlovka in Donetsk Region".
On Wednesday, the German government approved the supply of 14 Leopard tanks from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that this decision was the result of 'intensive consultations' with allies and international partners.
Later that day, US President Joe Biden announced that Washington would also deliver 31 M-1 Abrams tanks, claiming they were intended to help Kiev 'defend and protect Ukrainian land’ and did not pose 'an offensive threat’ to Russia.
Both leaders claimed that Ukrainian troops would be supplied with the necessary training.
Norway, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Finland, and Portugal have also previously announced their readiness to send stocks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his allies for the decision to send 'modern and very necessary' equipment and called for jets and long-range missiles too.
On Thursday, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov claimed that Moscow saw the supply of weapons by Western countries to Ukraine as 'direct involvement' in the conflict.
Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev said that Germany was set on 'permanent escalation' and the 'unlimited pumping of the Kiev regime with more and more lethal weapons'.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is one of four regions, also including the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporozhye, that President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow to join the Russian Federation, signing accession documents on September 30.
According to Moscow, it followed referenda in which people living in those areas exercised their right to self-determination and requested to join Russia.
Ukraine and its international allies condemned the move, calling it an annexation of Kiev’s sovereign territory.