Home General ‘Kursk Is A Graveyard For NATO Armour’

‘Kursk Is A Graveyard For NATO Armour’

The Ukrainian offensive, which involved ‘crack troops and foreign mercenaries,” and an “array of NATO equipment,” exposed how ineffective the latest Western weapons systems were against Russian firepower, says Moscow.
By
Ramananda Sengupta;
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A Ukrainian convoy destroyed in Kursk
A Ukrainian convoy reportedly destroyed by the Russian naval infantry in Kursk, Russia, in this still image from video released August 20, 2024. (Russian Defence Ministry handout via REUTERS)

Western military analysts project the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk which began on August 6 as a major psychological boost for the embattled country.

Russia, however, say the offensive, which involved ‘crack troops and foreign mercenaries” and an “array of NATO equipment”, exposed how ineffective the latest Western weapons systems were against Russian firepower.

Claiming that Russian forces had wiped out over 6,200 Ukrainian troops and 73 tanks in the first 20 days of the incursion, Moscow said Kursk, some 400 km northeast of Kyiv, has become a “graveyard for NATO armour”.

And to back this assertion, Moscow recently released a list of NATO-supplied weapons that had been destroyed during ”Kyiv’s Kursk gambit.”

These include:

The Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank (Great Britain):


Britain’s battle-shy MBT lost its status as the only modern tank never to have been destroyed by enemy fire when a Russian loitering munition destroyed one in the Kursk region in mid-August.

Abrams Tank (U.S.)

Russia’s first Abrams kill in the Kursk region was reported last week, said one report, claiming at least 20 of the 31 Abrams supplied to Kiev have now been lost.

High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS (U.S.)

💥 Another HIMARS MLRS destroyed

 At least three of these shoot-and-scoot rocket artillery systems have been destroyed in the Kursk assault, claimed Sputnik, the Russian state-controlled media outlet.

Eight of these American IFVs were destroyed in the course of 24 hours on August 12 during a breakthrough attempt, while ‘five or more were knocked out in fighting elsewhere,’ the Russians said.


About a dozen of these Canadian APC-IFV hybrids have been destroyed by Russian air power, Lancet drones, and Black Sea Fleet Naval Infantry in the Kursk region, while two were captured.

Marder tracked IFV (Germany)


At least three of these German “Schutzenpanzers” have been knocked out by Russian forces in the Kursk region, said Sputnik.

Humvees (U.S)

🇷🇺🇺🇲 Humvee americano capturado em Kursk: pic.twitter.com/ZVVDJczO7x

‘These ubiquitous US-made High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, better known as Humvees, have been spotted in MoD and media reports on destroyed enemy equipment, with knocked-out vehicles seen in an array of modifications, from machinegun turret-equipped variants to support vehicles,’ said the Sputnik report.

M113 APC (U.S)

At least one M113 has been hit by Russia’s deadly new EW-resistant Knyaz Vandal of Novgorod wired FPV drone.

Russia’s counter attack

Apart from this, Russian forces unleashed major counter-attacks involving airstrikes, artillery barrages and infantry at over 12 places, say reports. Ukraine’s 22nd & 115th Mechanized brigades, 82nd Airborne Assault brigade, & Guard and Support brigade were some of the targets.

Russia also hit 16 locations in Ukraine’s Sumy region. According to the Kyiv Independent, Russian forces struck Sumy Oblast 229 times on August 25, killing three people and injuring six others.

It quoted the Sumy Oblast Prosecutor’s Office as saying Russia dropped a KAB guided aerial bomb onto a residential five-story building in the village of Svesy around 3 p.m. local time.

On Monday, The Russian defence ministry released a video showing a Lancet loitering munition decimating an Ukrainian radar station in Sumy region on August 25.

 

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Ramananda Sengupta
In a career spanning over three decades and counting, I’ve been the Foreign Editor of The Telegraph, Outlook Magazine and The New Indian Express. I helped set up rediff.com’s editorial operations in San Jose and New York, helmed sify.com, and was the founder editor of India.com.

My work has featured in national and international publications like the Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Global Times and The Asahi Shimbun. My one constant over all these years, however, has been the attempt to understand rising India’s place in the world.

On demand, I can rustle up a mean salad, my oil-less pepper chicken is to die for, and depending on the time of the day, all it takes to rock my soul is some beer and some jazz or good ole rhythm & blues.

Talk to me about foreign and strategic affairs, media, South Asia, China, and of course India.
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