Russia, which has reportedly lost 45,700 personnel and 1,924 tanks in Ukraine has landed only third place behind China and even Belarus during a tank relay race at its very own ‘War Olympics’.

The ‘International Army Games’ – ‘ArMI-2022’ – is an annual event organised by the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) and this footage reportedly shows tanks from some of the nearly 40 participating countries taking part in the off-the-wall ‘sports’ event during a leg hosted at a training ground in Korla, a city in China’s Xinjiang province.

The footage shows how the different teams are pitted against each other during a series of races and events, from 13th to 27th August.

Newsflash also obtained a statement from the Russian MoD on Monday, 21st August, saying (in Russian): “In China, Russian motorised riflemen won bronze medals in the competition ‘Suvorov Onslaught’. At the Korla training ground, the crews of infantry fighting vehicles completed the competition in the Suvorov Onslaught competition of the International Army Games – 2022.

“The teams of China and Russia, Belarus and Iran met in the final race. The Venezuelan team, following the results of the ‘Individual race’ stage, did not reach the final.

“The result shown by the Russian motorised riflemen in the final stage of the competition secured the third place for the team. The first place in the competition was taken by the Chinese team, the team from Belarus won the silver, and the team from Iran took the fourth place in the final rating.

“Three crews from each team participated in the final stage of the ‘Relay race’, alternately performing on one combat vehicle for four laps of a competitive track 11 kilometres long, overcoming 11 obstacles: a model of a rut bridge, a comb, two slopes, a ledge, a ford, a rut passage in a mine – an explosive barrier, a mound, two fire lanes and an anti-tank ditch with a passage – and also fired at various targets.

“The best time in the “Individual race” of the Russian team was shown by the BMP-3 crew consisting of commander Viktor Murach, gunner Semyon Kovalenko and driver Nikita Prokopenko, who improved the result of last year by 1.5 minutes.

“At the end of the competition, the winners and prize-winners were awarded medals and memorable gifts, the winning team of the Challenge Cup.

“On 23rd August, in the People’s Republic of China, the first stage of the “Safe Route” competition starts at the training ground of the PLA [People’s Liberation Army – the Chinese Army’s] Ground Forces ‘Korla’.”

The Russian MoD had said ahead of the competition, on 6th July: “The 2022 International Army Games will be held from 13th to 27th August. A total of 36 competitions are planned to be held. The ARMI-2022 competitions will be held on the territory of 12 states: Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Uzbekistan.

“For the first time, one of the game competitions will be held on the South American continent – ‘Sniper Frontier’ is entrusted to Venezuela. Currently, 275 teams from 37 countries have confirmed their participation in the Army Games. Teams from Niger and Rwanda will take part in the games for the first time.”

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 24th August, Russia had lost about 45,700 personnel, 1,924 tanks, 4,243 armoured combat vehicles, 1,036 artillery units, 266 multiple launch rocket systems, 147 air defence systems, 234 warplanes, 199 helicopters, 819 drones, 196 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 3,160 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 99 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower, but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.