LONDON, September 6. /TASS/. UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that a British Challenger 2 battle tank has been destroyed in Ukraine, in the first such incident in the model’s nearly 30 years of being in service.
"I can confirm, that is correct. It may be the first loss as far as we are aware," Shapps told Sky News, explaining that the tank was hit by the Russian artillery.
"We gifted 14 of these Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. We accept that in the war zone, there can be material losses," Shapps said, adding that London is not planning to replace the vehicle.
Earlier, The Guardian reported that only one such tank, which entered combat in 1994, was hit in 2003 in Iraq, but that tank was destroyed in a friendly fire incident, not an enemy attack. Meanwhile, the report points out that such statistics can be explained by the small number of tanks produced and their infrequent deployment.
Overall, London shipped 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Kiev this year. The UK itself has 213 tanks of this type. Meanwhile, according to the information presented in the British Parliament in March, only 157 vehicles are combat-ready. Only one country, not counting the UK and Ukraine, uses Challenger 2 tanks — Oman.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian army has been making futile offensive attempts since June 4. According to the ministry, in three months, Ukrainian forces have lost over 66,000 personnel and 7,600 vehicles, achieving no success in any direction. On September 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.