Russia-Ukraine war live: footage appears to show British Challenger 2 tank destroyed in combat for first time

Footage appears to show first time British Challenger 2 tank destroyed in combat

A battlefield video circulated overnight on social media appears to show the destruction of a British Challenger 2 in Ukraine, which would be the first time one of the tanks has been destroyed in combat.

Visible at the beginning of the video, filmed from a car trying to flee the fighting, the Challenger 2 is shrouded in thick grey smoke with its distinctive gun barrel, though it is unclear what has caused the explosion to knock it out.

Though experts confirmed the identity of the tank from the video, it is unclear exactly when and where it was filmed, though the voices are speaking (and swearing) in Ukrainian, when they see a second immobilised tank.

No Challenger 2 has been lost in combat since it was first deployed in 1994, although one was destroyed in a friendly fire incident in Iraq in 2003, although the record is partly due to the relatively small numbers built and its infrequent deployment.

Britain gave 14 of the tanks to Ukraine earlier this year, as part of a European effort to provide western heavy armour, but until now it was not clear they had been heavily used in the frontline.

They were attached to Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade, with Kyiv hoping to keep them in reserve to exploit any frontline breakthrough. But the brigade was thrown into battle on the key Zaporizhzhia front around Robotyne in August, where Ukraine said over the weekend it had breached the first Russian defensive line.

Britain has 213 Challenger 2 tanks remaining, after donating the 14 to Ukraine, although MPs were told in March that 157 were available for operations. The only other country to use the tanks is Oman.