British tanks ‘used in Ukraine’s offensive into Russia’

British Challenger 2 tanks are believed to have been used in Ukraine’s offensive inside Russia, sources have disclosed.
The Times previously reported how the UK government had allowed Ukraine to use British weapons in its cross-border incursion.
A UK source revealed on Thursday that an unspecified number of tanks had been deployed in the Kursk region — marking the first time British tanks operated by Ukrainian troops had been used in combat on Russian territory.
An unverified video posted on X on Wednesday purported to show President Putin’s forces attacking a Challenger 2 inside Kursk.
The footage, which was also posted on a Russian Telegram account, was said to show the tank being hit by a low-flying Russian Lancet-3 kamikaze drone near Sudzha on Ukraine-occupied Russian territory.
Ukraine’s 82nd Air Assault Brigade, elements of which are currently taking part in the Kursk offensive, have been operating Challenger 2s since last year. Built in the 1990s, the tanks weigh 62.5 tonnes and are each armed with a 120mm rifled gun and a 7.62mm chain gun.
The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that its official position was unchanged from that of the previous government, confirming that Ukraine had a “clear right of self-defence against Russia’s illegal attacks … that does not preclude operations inside Russia”.
Sir Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, disclosed how during his tenure he gave permission for Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia using “whatever weapons [were] supplied to it”, with the exception of the long-range Storm Shadow missiles.
He suggested that the same rules applied to Ukraine’s Kursk operation in Russia, adding that if the attack was designed to go after logistics and infrastructure supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine it was “perfectly legitimate” for Ukraine to use British weapons. “We make clear during the gifting process that equipment is to be used in line with international law,” an MoD spokeswoman added.
The policy means that in addition to tanks, anti-tank missiles, artillery pieces, armoured vehicles and other equipment given to the Ukrainians by the UK could soon be seen on the battlefield inside Russia.
Britain agreed to give Ukraine 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks in January 2023 in a move that prompted Germany and the United States to follow suit with their versions.
One of them was destroyed in an operation in Ukraine last September. It is unclear how many of them have been deployed to Russia. Images emerged in recent days of other western weapons being deployed in the assault.
The Ukrainian army entered the Kursk region on August 6, capturing dozens of settlements and later destroying a warehouse containing hundreds of glide bombs in what is the biggest offensive by a foreign army on Russian soil since the Second World War. President Putin said the attack was aimed at improving Kyiv’s negotiating position before possible talks and slowing the advance of Russian forces along the rest of the front.
President Zelensky said on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops were “moving further” into Russia while United States and Ukrainian officials said that Moscow had begun withdrawing some troops from Ukraine in an effort to repel the offensive. “In the Kursk region, we are moving further. From one to two kilometres in different areas since the beginning of the day,” Zelensky said on social media.
Ukraine’s interior minister, Igor Klymenko, said: “The creation of a buffer zone in the Kursk region is a step to protect our border communities from daily hostile shelling.”
The neighbouring Russian region of Belgorod declared its own state of emergency, its governor warning that the situation was “extremely difficult” amid Ukrainian shelling and drone attacks. An AFP analysis of data provided by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank, indicated that Ukrainian troops had advanced over an area of at least 800 sq km (310 square miles).
The surprise incursion has raised questions about Ukraine’s use of western donated equipment. Russian media has circulated images that appear to show German-supplied Marder armoured vehicles in the Kursk region.
George Barros, an ISW researcher, noted that German mine-clearing tanks and tank transporters had also been spotted, along with the US-supplied Stryker armoured fighting vehicle and at least one French-supplied armoured personnel carrier.
In addition, he told The Times that last week Ukraine had destroyed a Russian vehicle convoy using what was likely to have been the US-supplied M142 high-mobility artillery rocket system (Himars), a missile launcher mounted on a five-tonne truck with a range of up to 50 miles.
The images circulating of German armoured vehicles back in the Kursk region, 80 years since one of the biggest battles of the Second World War in the same area, has forced the German government to respond. “Those are Ukrainian weapons,” said Wolfgang Büchner, a government spokesman, when asked about the issue.
Behind the scenes, ministers are trying to persuade allies to approve Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow cruise missiles inside Russia. Governments have so far been reluctant to allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons that could in theory hit Russian towns and villages because of the risk of escalation.
Storm Shadows have a range of about 155 miles, triple the range of the missiles Ukraine has used up to now. John Foreman, the former British defence attaché in Moscow, said tactical weapons with shorter ranges were “much less neuralgic”, or a deep source of recurring pain, to the Russians than Storm Shadow. “Long-range missiles stir Russian, and before that Soviet, fear about decapitation strikes against the leadership and key sites,” he said.
“Armoured vehicles, machine guns and Nlaws [anti-tank weapons] are a very different kettle of fish,” he said, adding it explained why allies had been reluctant to grant permission to Ukraine to use Storm Shadow.
John Healey, the defence secretary, said the world faced a “moment of heightened uncertainty” after a call with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on Wednesday. Healey said that as Ukrainian forces continued their “courageous fight against Russian aggression” they had discussed the need to “stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes and deliver the vital equipment they need”.
They also agreed there was an urgent need for restraint and de-escalation across the Middle East, according to Healey. His comments came with Iran expected to deliver to Russia hundreds of ballistic missiles, with a range of more than 50 miles.