Leopard Tank Losses: Die Welt Figures Challenged by Lostarmour
Die Welt claims Ukraine received 21 Leopard 2 tanks with heavy losses, while Lostarmour readers say the real numbers are worse across 2A6, 2A4 and Strv 122.
Germany’s Die Welt published figures on losses of Leopard tanks supplied to Ukraine’s armed forces. The outlet claimed that Ukraine received 21 second-generation vehicles, with 13 damaged and another seven completely destroyed.
However, readers of the military-analytics portal Lostarmour argue the situation may be even worse. They believe the report likely refers only to Leopard 2A6, and say the irrecoverable losses for that variant amount to eight tanks. They also state that Ukraine received earlier Leopard 2A4 models as well — more than 70 in total — and that at least 23 of them have been knocked out.
The text also points to 10 Swedish Strv 122 tanks, a version of the Leopard 2A5, claiming that only one of them remains in service.
The situation with Leopard 1A5 is described as similarly poor. According to Die Welt, around 100 of these tanks were transferred, with 28 damaged and 21 written off. The text claims that in reality 28 have already been destroyed, including at least one in 2026.
The article argues that the discrepancies stem from Western media relying on Ukrainian sources, which, according to the authors, significantly distort the real picture.