The only moment when a German-made Leopard tank takes on an entire column of Russian armor, while the Kursk meat grinder counter-offensive leads to ‘unimaginable losses’ for Putin

This is the moment a lone German-made Leopard tank took on an entire column of Russian armor.

Footage shows the tank blowing up three armored trucks and two tanks as they drive along a road in eastern Ukraine, near the town of Kurakhove.

The vehicles caught fire after heavy gunfire rained down on them, sending smoke billowing into the air as Russian soldiers tried to flee to safety.

The fleeing soldiers were killed shortly afterwards, according to the Ukrainian army unit that posted the images on Telegram. “One for an entire column,” the unit captioned the video.

This is because Putin’s forces suffered “unimaginable losses” during their meat grinder counter-offensive in the Kursk region, according to X account WarMonitor.

On Monday, Russia experienced the deadliest day of the war in Ukraine so far, with 1,950 deaths in just 24 hours, the Ukrainian military said.

The record number of troops killed in a day serves as a fresh humiliation for Putin after his two-day Kursk counter-offensive ended last weekend with 28 tanks blown up and 100 troops killed, reports show.

Footage shows Russian armored vehicles, each carrying about 30 men, driving over landmines in Kursk before they explode. Some wounded soldiers crawl out of the wreckage as the smoke clears.

Footage shows the tank blowing up three armored trucks and two tanks as they drive along a road in eastern Ukraine, near the town of Kurakhove

The vehicles caught fire after heavy gunfire rained down on them, sending smoke billowing into the air as Russian soldiers tried to flee to safety

The fleeing soldiers were killed shortly afterwards, according to the Ukrainian army unit that posted the images on Telegram

Vladimir Putin’s (pictured) losses in the war against Ukraine are mounting after Ukraine saw thousands of soldiers killed in the past two days alone, with 1,770 soldiers killed on Sunday and another 1,950 on Monday.

Russia has lost more than 710,000 troops since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion almost three years ago, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said this week.

Despite heavy losses, Moscow continues its ‘flesh attacks’ and continues to make progress at the fastest pace since 2022, with the chief of Ukraine’s armed forces admitting this month that it is currently facing ‘one of the most powerful’ Russian offensives since war broke out.

Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has stalled and Moscow has reportedly amassed a force of 50,000 soldiers in its bid to reclaim territory taken from the country three months ago.

Kiev said last week that its forces had clashed with some of the estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers sent to the region to support Moscow, with some experts saying their deployment could be partly to blame for heavy Russian losses.

Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time of the invasion of Kursk in August that the conquest of Russian territory could serve as a bargaining chip with Moscow.

But the manpower shortage has left Ukrainian forces losing some of the ground they captured in the August invasion and continuing to lose large parts of their own territory.

A view from a drone showing a destroyed Russian armored vehicle in part of a forest where the hottest phase of the war is taking place on November 9, 2024. The forest is located about 8 kilometers southwest of Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers of the mortar group of the “Karpatska Sich” battalion conduct combat operations and target the Russian army with a 120mm mortar on November 11, 2024 in Toretsk, Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) said at the time of the invasion of Kursk in August that the conquest of Russian territory could serve as a bargaining chip with Moscow

The record number of daily Russian losses on Sunday (1,770 troops) and Monday (1,950 troops), which surpasses the previous peak of 1,730 on a single day in May, is largely in line with estimates from Western countries.

The number of Russian soldiers killed and wounded averaged 1,500 “every day”, Britain’s Chief of Defense Staff Sir Tony Radakin told the BBC on Sunday.

Russia is making enormous sacrifices to “secure small pieces of land,” Radakin said, but added that it continues to make “tactical, territorial gains” and “put pressure on Ukraine.”

Sir Tony said the Russian people are paying an “extraordinary price” for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, saying October was the worst month for losses since the conflict began in February 2022.

“Russia is about to suffer 700,000 deaths or injuries – the enormous pain and suffering that the Russian nation must bear because of Putin’s ambition,” he told the Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

The cost of the war, which he estimated at more than 40 percent of government spending on defense and security, is also a “huge drain” on Russia.

This past weekend saw the largest drone attacks by Russia and Ukraine since the start of the war, with the barrage hitting large parts of each country and downing hundreds of drones, including in the Moscow region.

The strikes have intensified amid expectations that newly-elected US President Donald Trump will put pressure on both sides to end the conflict.

Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that he could end the war “in one day,” without saying how.