Ukrainian Soldier Says Challenger 2 Tanks Like a 'Sniper Rifle'

The British-donated Challenger 2 tanks rolling out in Ukraine's counteroffensive are like "a sniper rifle among all tanks," according to one soldier, as footage appears to show the first loss of a Ukrainian Challenger 2 in the 18-month-long war against Russia.

"A tank is a tremendous force, especially a tank like this," a Ukrainian tanker said in a video posted to social media by Ukraine's defense ministry earlier this week.

"With these tanks, anyone who sees them is like, 'Wow, what is that?'" the soldier added. "A few more companies for our country, it would be quite good."

In January, the U.K. became the first of Ukraine's allies to pledge Western-made main battle tanks with its 14 Challenger 2s. The move paved the way for several of Ukraine's other Western backers, like the U.S. and Germany, to commit the likes of the Leopard 2 and U.S. Army's Abrams. The heavily armored Challengers, weighing in at just under 70 tons, arrived in the war-torn country in late March.

Yet the Challengers, of which Ukraine has far fewer than the German-made Leopards, were scarce for weeks on the battlefields of Ukraine's grinding counteroffensive against dug-in Russian positions in southern Ukraine.

In mid-August, reports then suggested the Challengers were plunging into battle with Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade in heavy fighting around the Zaporizhzhia village of Robotyne. On Monday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had "repelled a counterattack" from Ukraine's 82nd Air Assault Brigade close to Robotyne and the neighboring village of Verbove.

But on Tuesday, footage circulating online appeared to show the first British-donated Challenger 2 taken out in Ukraine's counteroffensive, thought to be from the 82nd around Robotyne, which Kyiv said it had captured in late August. Prior to the tanks arriving in Ukraine, the Challenger 2s were lauded as never having been destroyed by enemy hands.

Newsweek has reached out to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for written comment.

The Challenger 2 operator speaking in the clip publicized by Kyiv nonetheless sang the tank's praises, with 13 of the formerly British tanks thought to still be in play around the heavily contested Zaporizhzhia area where Ukraine said it has breached Russia's first line of defenses.

"Its advantage is that it has a long range, it is very precise," the Ukrainian fighter said, adding the Challenger is "a machine designed to operate at a long distance."

Glen Grant, a Latvia-based analyst with the Baltic Security Foundation who has seen the tanks during drills in the U.K., said back in January that the Challengers are "frightening because they're big and the ground rumbles."

"You can feel it on the ground when they come towards you," he told Newsweek at the time, adding: "In operational terms, this will be a great opportunity to make a real fighting brigade."

Fighting around Robotyne has produced what Ukraine has called a breakthrough of heavily prepared Russian defenses in southern Ukraine. On Saturday, the commander of Ukraine's Tavria group of forces, Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, told British newspaper The Observer that Ukrainian forces "are now between the first and second defensive lines" in Zaporizhzhia region after months of slow progress.

Update 09/05/23, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article was updated to change the wording of the first paragraph.