As Russia declares victory in Luhansk, Ukraine captures tanks and regains territory in neighbouring region

With a few strokes of his paintbrush, the Ukrainian tank commander erased the Kremlin’s pro-war letter “Z” on the side of the Russian T-80 tank and rebranded it as the newest addition to Ukraine’s fleet of armoured vehicles.

“We will hit [the Russians] with their own tank,” said Cmdr. Oleksander Harmatko, appearing pleased as he put the finishing touches on the repurposed combat vehicle, which only days earlier had been firing at his own troops, near the Russian-held city of Izyum.

“This tank came to the front to ‘work over’ our positions,” Harmatko told CBC News. “But our infantry shut it down.”

He said the Russian