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| - FACT CHECK: Did Sweden Confirm That The 10 Tanks It Sent To Ukraine Were Destroyed?
A post shared on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, claims Sweden confirmed that the 10 tanks it sent to Ukraine were destroyed.
Sweden confirmed the loss of ALL by Leopard 2A5 tanks of the #Swedish modification Strv 122, which were delivered to #Ukraine.
Their losses amounted to 10 out of 10 such tanks delivered . pic.twitter.com/plOBIVqUdY
— Arthur Morgan (@ArthurM40330824) September 26, 2023
Verdict: Misleading
There is no evidence that Sweden confirmed that these tanks have been destroyed. Two of the 10 have been confirmed as damaged by video.
Fact Check:
Sweden donated 10 Strv 122 tanks, a modified version of the German Leopard 2 tank, to Ukraine in February 2023, according to Reuters. Sweden has donated over $1 billion worth of military equipment to Ukraine, the outlet reported in August.
Social media users are claiming that Sweden “confirmed the loss” of every Strv 122 tank it had donated to Ukraine. One version reads, “Sweden confirmed the loss of ALL by Leopard 2A5 tanks of the #Swedish modification Strv 122, which were delivered to #Ukraine. Their losses amounted to 10 out of 10 such tanks delivered.”
There is no evidence for this claim. If Sweden had confirmed the loss of all the tanks it had sent to Ukraine, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. The Community Note attached to the original post also shows that a few Swedish outlets have also not made any such report.
Check Your Fact also reviewed the websites of the Swedish Prime Minister and the Swedish Ministry of Defense. This search did not yield any results that Sweden confirmed the loss of the tanks it had donated to Ukraine. Neither did a search of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Forbes reported Sept. 24 that two of the 10 tanks sent had been damaged. Oryx, a website that tracks visually confirmed equipment losses in the Russian-Ukrainian war, has documented one damaged and abandoned Strv 122.
An open-source intelligence account stated that a third Strv 122 had been abandoned and hit by a loitering munition. Check Your Fact could not independently verify this video. (RELATED: Breaking Down Nikki Haley’s Claim About Ukraine Aid Spending)
Third STRV 122 abandoned and damaged by kamikaze drones.
It doesn’t appear that the vehicle was destroyed, but this damaged/abandoned rate for the number of vehicles is agonizing. pic.twitter.com/iT7KquGSQ3
— 2S7 pion (trost) (@Trotes936897) September 28, 2023
This is not the first time misinformation about Europe has been shared online. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim that Poland declared war on Russia.
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