Russian tank regiment commander killed himself ‘after finding out 90% of tanks held in reserve were unusable because parts had been stolen’, claims Ukrainian intelligence
- Kyiv's Ministry of Defence claimed the commander was with the 4th tank division
- It claimed he killed himself when he realised state Russian reserve tanks were in
- Kyiv said in his unit, one out of 10 tanks in storage were 'more or less' operational
- The commander becomes the latest high-ranking Russian military official to have died in Ukraine since Putin ordered his forces to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24
Ukraine has claimed that the commander of a Russian tank regiment killed himself because the vehicles the unit had in reserve were un-serviceable.
Kyiv's Ministry of Defence said the commander of the '13th tank regiment' within the '4th tank division of the Russian Federation' shot himself due to the dire situation after learning the condition of the unit's reserve tanks.
The update also said that in general, Moscow's forces were struggling with poorly maintained military vehicles and is facing 'the problem of the impossibility of restoring equipment after "deconservation" from warehouses.'
Ukraine has claimed that the commander of a Russian tank regiment killed himself because the vehicles the unit had in reserve were un-serviceable. Pictured: The wreckage of a destroyed Russian tank is seen on a road near Kyiv on March 25
It said that in many cases, electronic equipment that contained precious metals had been stripped for parts from many Russian combat vehicles held in storage.
In its update posted to the ministry's Telegram channel, it claimed that Russia was building storage and repair facilities in the Klimove, Bryansk region to fix the equipment that had been disabled on the battlefield.
'Currently, the enemy RVB is trying to 'put into operation' a significant amount of equipment coming from long-term storage facilities,' the update claimed.
'The condition of this equipment is mostly extremely unsatisfactory, which makes its full use impossible.' It added: 'At present, plans to transfer equipment taken from storage to the front have actually been thwarted.'
Kyiv said the commander of the 4th Panzer Division killed himself once he learned that just one out of 10 of the tanks in storage were 'more or less' operational - suggesting nine out of 10 were unusable.
Those that weren't operational had been almost completely dismantled, Kyiv said, with some even missing engines.
It was not possible to immediately verify the report. If correct, the commander's death would be the latest in a string of high-ranking Russian officers and generals who have been killed in Ukraine.
Destroyed Russian tank is seen, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, near the town of Trostianets, in the Sumy region, Ukraine March 25, 2022
People walks past a tank destroyed in fighting during Ukraine-Russia conflict, in the besieged southern port of Mariupol, Ukraine March 23, 2022
According to Oryx, a military blog that is tracking Russian vehicle losses based on visual confirmation, as of March 26 the Kremlin has lost 1,891 in total.
Of those, 939 have been destroyed, 35 have been damaged, 229 have been abandoned and 688 have been captured by Ukrainian troops.
Given that these figures are based on visual confirmations from pictures and footage coming out of Ukraine, the true figure is expected to be much higher.
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