Fact Check: Was Russian Soldier Blown Up Bashing Tank With Artillery Shell?

Russian artillery has taken heavy losses throughout its conflict in Ukraine with some estimates suggesting that as many as 4,000 of its tanks have been lost since its invasion in early 2022.

In an update posted to social media in June 2023, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that Russia had lost a total of 4,006 tanks since February 24, 2022, with independent experts corroborating to Newsweek that the number was not "far off the truth."

In what would appear to be another possible loss, one clip posted on Twitter this week seen by millions, showed what looked like a Russian soldier using an artillery shell as an improvised hammer on a tank followed by a huge explosion that cut off the footage.

The Claim

A tweet by Igor Sushko posted on July 2, 2023, viewed 4.3 million times, shows a video of what appears to be a soldier hitting a tank component with an artillery shell before the video cuts out with a fiery explosion effect.

The tweet adds: "'We are very lucky Russian soldiers are so stupid,' exemplified."

The Facts

Estimates on Russian tank losses do vary. According to the Dutch open-source outlet Oryx, which monitors both Ukrainian and Russian military losses, Russia had lost 2,047 tanks, as of late June 2023.

While Ukrainian figures have dwarfed that, these may also include armored vehicles as well as other vehicles that are still operational but no longer in Russian hands.

The video seen on Twitter this week of the artillery shell explosion certainly appeared at first glance to possibly count toward another of these losses.

However, while the clip appears to show the unfortunate result of improvised military engineering, the explosion was edited into the video.

The original video showing a Russian soldier (denoted by a darker uniform) has been on Russian social media for at least seven months. A copy of the footage was also posted on the subreddit r/NonCredibleDefense six months ago with the title "Superior Russian Defense Industry Creates Superior Repair Tools."

The 11-second clip shows the soldier bashing the metal component into the tank before turning to the people next to him and smiling.

The explosion used at the end of the edited video is an effect available via TikTok.

Furthermore, the video shows the soldier hitting the tank with the base of the artillery shell. This is not where the fuze of the shell is usually located. The device that is used to trigger the device's explosives is generally in the shell's tip.

Moreover, unless the video was livestreamed or uploaded to a cloud service, it's logical to assume that the footage would have been destroyed in such an explosion.

The Ruling

Misleading Material.

The video shared on Twitter has been edited. The explosion seen in the film is a video effect, available on TikTok.

The original video, which has been shared on other social media for at least seven months, shows the soldier using the shell to hammer a component into the tank before turning and smiling at a group behind him.

It is also less likely that an explosion would have been triggered by hitting the shell from the bottom, as is shown in the video, as this is generally the opposite end from where the fuze, which detonates the explosives inside, is located.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team