A Ukrainian drone has discovered a "Russian tank graveyard" where damaged vehicles were brought for repair but then abandoned after losses for Vladimir Putin's forces continued to rise.
The graveyard is just over the border in the Russian village of Golovchino, in the Belgorod Oblast, around an hour and 45 minute drive northwest from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
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Satellite pictures confirmed there were no vehicles at the site when Putin started his invasion on February 24 and only a handful on March 17.
The new images were captured by the Ukrainian-built Leleka drone, which is sent daily into Russian airspace with a catapult.
The Sun was granted exclusive access to join the team which launches it, with the title stating that the team counted 57 military vehicles on the feed it beamed back, including at least 17 tanks.
There were at least seven self-propelled artillery guns, smaller 2S3 Akatsiya guns, mechanised bridges, armoured fighting vehicles and two tank recovery vehicles.
The team commander said the vehicles and artillery had been taken to the site for repair and abandoned.
He said: “All the Russian vehicles that come to Ukraine will end up in a place like this. It is a tank graveyard. A cemetery.”
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A Ukrainian intelligence source told The Sun: “The fact these tanks have been left behind in Golovchino tells us they are no use to Russia.”
Sam Cranny-Evans, from the RUSI think-tank, said the chaotic arrangement of the vehicles at the site showed “they have been taken there in a hurry”.
He said: “They are positioned somewhat haphazardly, as you would expect for vehicles that are unable to move under their own power and that are in need of repair.”
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Defence expert Joseph Dempsey, from the London-based IISS think-tank, said: “The most logical assessment of this site is a repair and/or recovery site for Russia ground force vehicles damaged in the conflict.
“Though the condition of each is unconfirmed, they appear to be in various states of damage or repair, with crew and other access panel open or absent.
“While feasible some might be returned to duty, others may simply be cannibalised for spare parts to return others to service.”
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