Russia Accidentally Shows Off Its Own Destroyed Tank

Russia's Ministry of Defense published a video on Tuesday attempting to pass off its own destroyed tank as Ukrainian.

"Anti-tank units destroyed a column of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the Vremevsky ledge," the ministry wrote in a post on Telegram. It shared a clip of a burnt out tank, which turned out to be Russian T-80BV, said Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesperson for the Odessa military administration, Gazeta.ua reported.

The footage was published one week into Ukraine's push to recapture its Russian-occupied territories. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a rare concession of the Kremlin's military losses, told Russian military bloggers on Tuesday that Russia had lost 54 tanks in the course of Kyiv's counteroffensive efforts thus far. Newsweek couldn't immediately verify that figure.

Tuesday's video also shows close up shots of the destroyed tank, and cuts to a half burnt Russian insignia with the inscription: "Russian Tactical Beard."

"Another unsuccessful attack cost the Kyiv regime several units of armored vehicles. The fighters of the "Eastern" group of troops did not allow the Ukrainian units to approach our defensive lines, shooting the enemy column using rocket propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles," Russia's defense ministry wrote.

"On the official channel of the Russian Federation's mini-killing, footage of the 'destruction of a column of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine' was posted, where the destroyed T-80BV tank was lit up. True, there is a small nuance - the tank turned out to be Russian," Bratchuk wrote on his Telegram channel.

One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's top aides, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Thursday that one of Kyiv's current goals is to kill as many Russian mobilized troops and to destroy as much Russian equipment as possible.

"I speak frankly, as much as possible in order to add psychological pressure on the Russian army," he said.

Podolyak added that current advances made by Ukraine's armed forces toward Russian-occupied territory in the past week are part of a test to figure out Moscow's weaknesses, and that Ukraine's decisive counteroffensive has yet to begin.

Zelensky told NBC News in an interview published Thursday that his troops are "meeting very stiff resistance," but "things are going well."

"I would say that it is generally positive, but very difficult," he said.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry for comment via email.

Do you have a tip on a world news story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about the Russia-Ukraine war? Let us know via worldnews@newsweek.com.