Western tanks are proving ineffective against Russia's multi-layered minefields in the south of Ukraine, a top Ukrainian general told the BBC on Thursday.
Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said that Western battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles gifted to Ukraine were not able to get through the rows of Russian mines on the front lines, slowing down their much-anticipated counteroffensive.
Some of the vehicles became badly damaged, he said, forcing Ukrainian units to leave them behind and advance slowly on foot, at risk of coming under artillery fire.
Russian troops have shown "professional qualities" by stopping Ukrainian forces from "advancing quickly," Tarnavskyi told the BBC, adding: "I don't underestimate the enemy."
Many Western-made vehicles — including several Leopard tanks and US Bradley fighting vehicles — had already been badly damaged, the BBC reported.
One engineer, who was trying to fix the vehicles, told the outlet that some of them were beyond repair and would have to be either taken apart for spare parts or "returned to our partners."
"The faster we can repair them, the faster we can get them back to the front line to save someone's life," the engineer, identified as Serhii, told the BBC.
Nearly a third of the Bradley armored vehicles sent to Ukraine were already put out of action, open-source data indicated.
Some Ukrainian troops were forced to resort to using Soviet-era tanks to help clear minefields, the BBC reported, though their specialist mine-clearing equipment is not always sufficient enough to detect explosives that are hidden deep in the ground.
Ukrainian officials requested more mine-clearance equipment to help improve their ground capabilities, Insider previously reported.
But Tarnavsky remained positive about the attack, telling the BBC: "Slow or not, the offensive is taking place and it will definitely reach its goal."
