Wrongly captioned video of ‘tank’ accident backfires on pro-Russian YouTuber

^{By Eiddwen Jeffery}

A pro-Russian YouTuber wrongly claims Germany’s first Leopard 2 tank to arrive in Ukraine fell off a trailer and crashed to the ground while it was being loaded. It is, in fact, a self-propelled howitzer — most likely Russian.

The video, which was also posted on Facebook, shows a mobile artillery vehicle driving onto a flatbed trailer surrounded by men in uniform. In its second attempt to mount the trailer, it falters and crashes to the ground, rolling onto its roof. A caption on the video reads: “THE FIRST GERMAN LEOPARD TANK ARRIVED IN UKRAINE.” 

The 46-second clip has been viewed more than 1,400 times on Facebook. Users engaging with the post mocked the purported tank, with one commenting it was “Designed to get Ukrainans slaughtered as SITTING DUCKS!!!”

But the military equipment in the video is not a Leopard 2 tank, according to an Australian military expert. And the video was not recorded this month, but published in August 2014, seven years before the war in Ukraine.

Military strategist and retired Australian Army Major General, Mick Ryan, told FactLab the machine in the video is not a Leopard 2 tank but a self-propelled howitzer. 

“This vehicle appears to be a Russian 2S3 152mm self-propelled gun. This has been exported to multiple countries, ” Mr Ryan said.

He said self-propelled howitzers are “essentially artillery on tracks”, designed to be mobile, with a gun that fires at targets at medium to long range. A tank, on the other hand, is generally heavier, with more armour and a gun that fires at short-range targets, he said.

According to one report, the video shows Russian military equipment falling off a trailer in a "seemingly embarrassing trend”.

In January Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Sholz told the German Parliament, the Bundestag, that Germany would enable Ukraine’s military to defend itself against Russian attacks by providing it with Leopard 2 battle tanks.

In February, Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told German newspaper Bild the Leopard 2 tanks would be delivered by the end of March. This was later confirmed by the German government on Twitter. 

On March 1, the German Government confirmed it would provide 18 Leopard 2 tanks with ammunition. The government said it would not provide details on dates until after handover. 

FactLab has found no evidence that any of the German-supplied Leopard 2 tanks have arrived in Ukraine, however, Poland delivered four of the German-built Leopard 2 tanks late last month and pledged to send another 10 this week. Poland and several other European countries promised to send the tanks after Germany agreed.

FactLab contacted the German Defence Ministry to confirm whether its tanks had arrived in Ukraine, but the ministry did not respond before publication.

In collaboration with researchers at RMIT CrossCheck, FactLab used a  reverse image search and found a longer version of the video published on the video sharing platform Dailymotion. It is titled “Tank load on a truck : FAIL”, and was published in 2014. 

The Facebook post with the false caption was posted by pro-Russian social media user Simeon Boikov, who also uses the moniker “Aussie Cossack”. He gained prominence in the anti-vaccination movement, and in 2021 was featured in an  ABC Four Corners report on pro-Russian nationalist groups in Australia.

Users commenting on the Facebook post, which was published on March 1, have pointed out that Ukraine was in winter at the time yet the video shows leaves on surrounding trees and a man in a short-sleeved shirt, suggesting the video was recorded in a warmer season. 

The video was also published as part of a 2018 Business Insider compilation article of tanks falling off trailers. It has been separately shared on Twitter, where users have made multiple claims, including misidentifying the howitzer as American. The Business Insider video describes it as a “Russian self-propelled howitzer” and features it in a series on several tank-loading accidents involving the Russian military.