'Leopard' Tank Blown Up in Russian Video Turns Out to Be Ukrainian Tractor

Jul 27, 2023

Russian media published a video purporting to show the destruction of a German-made "Leopard" tank in a field in Ukraine, shortly after the Russian Defense Ministry said it had successfully destroyed several Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles in its efforts to stop Kyiv's counteroffensive.

However, the claim appeared to be debunked in Russia's own "milblogger" community after several reporters noticed the vehicles in the clip strongly resembled U.S.-made tractors and combine harvesters.

Newsweek Misinformation Watch assessed the claims, counterclaims and various pieces of OSINT analysis to determine the facts behind the footage.

On Tuesday, June 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense in its daily update said that the previous day, the "Kiev regime attempted an offensive in seven directions with five brigades," and listed purported enemy losses.

These included "more than 1,600 troops, 28 tanks, including 8 Leopard tanks and 3 AMX-10 wheeled tanks, 136 other military vehicles, including 79 foreign-manufactured ones," according to the ministry's statement.

On the same day, Ukraine said Russian forces lost 37 artillery systems and 13 tanks in a single day.

While neither ministry provided any evidence in support of the claims, on Tuesday Russian state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti published footage which, it said, showed "the destruction of foreign armed vehicles, including Leopard tanks."

The reports of supposed losses were swiftly picked up by pro-Russian social media accounts, but soon questions began to emerge about the veracity of the claims around the footage.

Instead of the German tanks, OSINT analysis indicated, Russian Ka-52 helicopter strikes appeared to have blown up a number of U.S.-made agricultural vehicles, including a John Deere 4830 sprayer tractor and a John Deere 9000 combine harvester.

"Russians have released a video in which they claim a Russian Ka-52 helicopter strikes on "Leopard 2 tanks." Only for some reason this "Leopard" looks more like a tractor. For example, John Deere 4830," the Special Kherson Cat account tweeted, adding the image of the tractor.

"[Russian] MoD claimed the destruction of Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks during the recent counter-offensive- hitting a new level of cope. The vehicles targeted by ATGM from Ka-52 not only don't resemble tanks but are in fact innocent agricultural equipment- a sprayer & combines," the Ukraine Weapons Tracker account wrote.

#Ukraine:The 🇷🇺MoD claimed the destruction of Ukrainian Leopard 2 tanks during the recent counter-offensive- hitting a new level of cope.The vehicles targeted by ATGM from Ka-52 not only don't resemble tanks but are in fact innocent agricultural equipment- a sprayer & combines. pic.twitter.com/a33ZJJcZgt

Prominent pro-Kremlin Telegram channels also spotted the apparent inconsistency, openly mocking the published footage.

"What's that over there? Well, let's hit it anyways" the Milinfolive account, with more than 500,000 subscribers, wrote, jokingly.

"A very telling conversation between the crew of the battle Ka-52, who, due to the poor quality of their optoelectronic systems, cannot even make out what they are observing through the scope and decide to hit the target 'just in case,'" the post continued.

"The target was an agricultural tractor-sprayer, on which the wheels are clearly visible. It was marked as a German Leopard 2 in the ministry's report.

"This is embarrassing beyond belief. Sorry," the author concluded.

Other high-engagement accounts, such as Rybar, which allegedly has ties to the Russian security apparatus, were less damning in their assessment, concluding that while the video was likely misleading, "such mistakes happen in any war," and blaming the ministry's PR department for the mishap.

While Newsweek could not independently and conclusively identify the vehicles hit in the video, independent analysis and apparent consensus on both sides of the conflict strongly support the notion that it was indeed agricultural equipment and not the Leopard 2 tanks.

Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities have been accused in the past of misstating or exaggerating enemy losses in the past. Russia regularly claims to have destroyed a HIMARS missile system, though so far no such losses have been confirmed by either Ukraine or the Pentagon.

In at least one case, Russia's claim to have destroyed several HIMARS rockets was misconstrued by Ukrainian and Western outlets as referring to a launcher, not the missiles.

Ukrainian outlets also claimed, without evidence, that a Soviet-era T-34 tank from the military parade in Moscow was sent to the front lines.

Misleading claims about explosions at an ammunition depot in the Russian town of Belgorod were also shared by accounts from both sides of the conflict in March 2022.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment via email.