Troopers from the Ukrainian combat unit the Kremlin loves most to hate, the Azov Brigade, grabbed one of Russia’s most modern tanks and drove it off the battlefield in a high-risk combat raid.
Drone video published by the controversial unit, formally called the 12th “Azov” Special Purpose Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, showed two Azov fighters clamber aboard an abandoned Russian T-72B3M tank, crank up its engine, and head for friendly lines.
Fact-Checks by Kyiv Post with Azov Brigade official spokespersons, individual members of the unit, and materials published by the adjacent 95th Air Assault Brigade confirmed the nighttime snatch-and-grab took place largely as reported widely in Ukrainian media.
According to those accounts, the incident took place on April 7 following a failed Russian armored assault to the east of the village of Terny, in a northeastern section of Ukraine’s Donetsk region. Elements of the Azov Brigade had been deployed in the sector since Fall 2023.
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Images published by the adjacent 95th Air Assault Brigade showed a Russian armored column of 15-20 tanks and infantry fighting vehicle driving across mostly bare terrain before coming under artillery fire, and then being hit with swarms of FPV drones and anti-tank missiles.
Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) statements claimed at least 11 Russian vehicles were knocked out or burned in the April 4 ambush. Video published by the 95th Brigade, and reviewed by Kyiv Post, shows at least 16 Russian tanks or armored personnel carriers moving along a dirt road and attempting to deploy in terrain geolocated to farm fields some two kilometers east of the Terny village.
One of the tanks attempts to escape but the crew abandons the vehicle after colliding with a BMP armored infantry carrier, the video shows. FPV drones reportedly later hunted down and killed the three crewmembers.
Night-time video recorded over the same battlefield shows two figures climbing into the tank, later identified as a late-model T-72B3M. The engine visibly starts, and the tank later is shown to be driving into the Ukraine Armed Forces (AFU)-held village of Terny, at the approximate grid 49.089574, 37.969339, Kyiv Post review found.
Repelled an assault and captured a Russian tank.
— Azov Brigade (@azov_media) April 6, 2024
Footage of a failed invaders' assault near Terny, as a result of which the Russians lost 11 pieces of equipment and the Azov fighters evacuated an enemy tank.
Intelligence spotted an armored group of Russians. It was moving… pic.twitter.com/iCpUZdPTmQ
A YouTube video published by the Azov Brigade on April 7 identified and showed interviews with fighters with the battle call signs “Tenor” and “Baydar”, who took credit driving the Russian vehicle to Ukrainian lines in a nocturnal raid taking place in no-man’s-land.
The Russian tank was damaged in daylight fighting from an explosion but once the driver’s compartment was cleaned out and batteries were replaced, the vehicle started and drove back to Ukrainian lines without problems, the Ukrainian tank operator Baydar told an interviewer.
Sappers preceded the raiders on the night April 5-6 to clear the route to the tank and the vehicle itself for booby traps, and the following evening infantry secured the area for the Ukrainian tank mechanics to board the vehicle, repair it, and drive it away, Tenor, a tank company vice commander, told an interviewer.
Field operations including reconnaissance, planning, repeated visits to the tank, and transport of a 70 kg tank battery – by men on foot more than a kilometer - to the vehicle took the better part of three days, with dozens of soldiers and technicians involved he said. Russian forces did not interfere with the evacuation, but once inside Terny the operators drove the T-72 into a deep bomb crater and almost got stuck, images showed. Tenor said some 35 shells hit around the village during the evacuation.
The T-72B3M (M=modernized, Russian-модернизированный) is the Kremlin’s standard first-line main battle tank. Costing a reported $2.5 million a vehicle and first fielded in 2022, the weapons system boasts anti-tank missiles fired through the cannon, updated reactive armor, a Relikt defense system designed to destroy incoming missiles and drones, and a new diesel engine putting out almost twice the horsepower (1130 HP) of previous models.
According to the manufacturer Uralvagonzavod, sensors and fire control computers onboard the T-72B3M allow it to reliably hit a moving target at ranges above two kilometers with the first shot.
Since 2014 Russian Federation state information platforms have pushed the narrative that most members of the Azov Brigade are neo-Nazis and extremist Ukrainian nationalists. Independent news platforms including Kyiv Post have found little compelling evidence to support the Kremlin claims. A primary plank of Azov ideology, dating back to Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, is absolute Ukrainian independence from Russia. The view is anathema to Moscow.
According to Azov statements, the captured T-72B3M can be fully repaired and will be assigned to the brigade tank battalion for combat service against its former owners.
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Comments (8)
Ukraine should consider ordering the US medium tank the M10 Booker which went into production in 2023. A 42 ton with a 105MM barrel. Each infantry platoon will have 4 M10s fighting with the ground troops taking out IFV, buildings, bunkers and machine gun positions. The Ukraine war lessons have brought this gap filling tank to life again. US Army hasn’t had a medium tank for infantry direct support since the 1990s when it phased out the Sherman tank. The first 28 M10s are already tested and assigned to the Army. The US has a production run of 500 tanks. Two M10s will fit in a C17 where only one Abrams fits.
Gog and Magog maps and images and Luke 21 the armies are close to surrounding Israel for the armageddon the blood up to the horses bridal. All of Israel saved Romans 11:26 amen. The red heifer from Texas is in Israel the prophecy is being fulfilled amen. 3 Rd temple news pages. Israel and the temple is god's time peace. Knowing Jesus light for the day odb.org .
@Terry, Hey Terry, go take your bizarre proselytizing and shove it up your ass. Get your fucking brain in to reality. If that is at all possible. God gave you a brain to use. You are a waste of God's gift.
@Terry, Wordt tijd dat Israël van de planeet verdwijnt. Illegale bende genocide plegers.
Sell the tank to the Americans for three Abrams tanks, 6 Bradleys, 30 stingers. And 20 Javelins.
Possession is 90% of the law.
As far as military equipment 'donors' to Ukraine's defence goes, how does russia itself rank? I recall they 'donated' a helicopter a while back and it seems they 'donated' lots of other stuff they left in liberated areas....even if some are most just spare parts.
When the russian planes inadvertently drop a bomb in russia does that count as a donation to Ukraine or incompetence? How about when the injured russian soldiers we read about a few days back, finish themselves off with a hand grenade...is that like a donation (the grenade)?
Do the russian mothers get a tax write off for the weapons their deceased sons have 'donated' to Ukraine?
So many questions. Surely the MRGA trolls will have some answers for inquiring minds. I will patiently wait.
Excellent! It's a mercy the FPV drones hunted down the Ruzzian tank crew, otherwise they'd be alive... in Ruzzia. Ukrainians sometimes have to be cruel to be kind.
but be careful because the soviet tanks fly high...
Brilliant job Ukraine, well done! So nice to see Russia is still “donating” tanks to you. I’m sure you will put it to excellent use. Give them hell!
@So Good, Azov zijn de beste! Slava Ukraini.