A still image from a video, released by Russia's Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be a German-made Leopard tank captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine, in this image taken from a handout footage released June 13, 2023. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS
(Reuters) - Russia's Defence Ministry released video footage on Tuesday of what it said were German-made Leopard tanks and U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles captured by Russian forces in a battle with Ukrainian troops.
Reuters could not immediately verify the location and timing of the footage, which the Defence Ministry said was filmed on the Zaporizhzhia front in southern Ukraine, one of the areas where Ukrainian forces have been trying to counter-attack.
What appeared to be two German-made Leopard tanks were shown in the footage, which was released on the ministry's official channel on the Telegram messaging application, along with two damaged U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
In a short statement accompanying the footage, the ministry called the captured military hardware "our trophies" and said the video showed soldiers from its Vostok (East) military grouping inspecting the equipment.
It noted that the engines of some of the vehicles were still running, evidence it said of how quickly their Ukrainian crews had fled.
Reuters cannot verify such battlefield accounts.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had recaptured a string of villages from Russian forces along an approximately 100-km (60-mile) front in the southeast since starting its long-anticipated counteroffensive last week.
Unconfirmed reports from Russian military bloggers suggest Russian forces may have recaptured some territory which they ceded in recent days.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Felix Light; Editing by Gareth Jones)
