Such a move points to an imminent Ukrainian offensive.
British Challenger-2 tanks have supposedly been spotted in the Zaporizhzhya region in Ukraine, near the front line, according to unconfirmed reports.
Although the Ukrainians received the tanks from the U.K. in mid-March, and training was completed by the end of March, there is no evidence that they have been used in combat. However, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tested the Ukrainian-flagged armored vehicles in the spring and promised that they would soon begin their combat mission.
Ukraine has received a total of 14 Challenger-2s from the British, together with their equipment, ammunition, and the controversial depleted uranium armor-piercing projectiles. However advanced the tank is, it is clearly not a game-changing in respect to the wider conflict with such numbers, but the tanks’ appearance near the front could be a sign that the majority of other Western armor has already been deployed.
Experts had previously thought that the Challenger 2 would be deployed once enough of the other Western tanks, such as the German Leopard 2, had arrived.