Before he goes into battle with his mudspattered war machine, a T64 tank, a threeperson Ukrainian crew performs a ritual. The commander, Pvt. Dmitro Hrebenok says a prayer and then the men walk around the tank, stroking the sturdy green armor.
“We say, ‘Please don’t let us down in the fight,'” said Sgt. Artiom Knignitski, the mechanic. “Take us there and bring us back.”
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Respect for the tank is understandable. Perhaps no weapon symbolizes the grim violence of war more than a tank. And they floated past the conflict in Ukraine in recent months militarily and diplomatically as both sides prepare for new offensives. A Russia pulled Cold Warera armor from reserve while Ukraine pressured Western governments to supply American Abrams and German Leopard II tanks.
Tyler Hicks/NYT
Ukrainian soldiers from the armored brigade next to one of the vehicles in the Donetsk region, in a picture dated 25. The armored fleet has become indispensable in the war Photo: Tyler Hicks/NYT
Sophisticated western tanks are expected on the battlefield in the coming months. The new Russian armored vehicles arrived earlier and were decimated in their first largescale deployment.
A threeweek battle on a plain near the mining town of Vuhledar in southern Ukraine has resulted in the biggest tank battle of the war so far, according to Ukrainian officials. And it became a serious setback for the Russians.
Both sides sent tanks forward, advancing on dirt roads and maneuvering around trees. On one side the Russians advanced in ranks; On the other hand, the Ukrainians maneuvered defensively, firing from range or from cover while the Russians advanced.
When the long battle was finally over, Russia not only failed to capture Vuhledar, it made the same mistake that cost Moscow hundreds of tanks earlier in the war: advance its ranks into ambushes.
A year of war in Ukraine
Destroyed by mines, hit by artillery or antitank missiles, the charred hulls of Russian armored vehicles are now littering farmland around the city, according to drone footage from the Ukrainian military.
According to them, Russia lost at least 130 tanks and armored vehicles in the battle. Ukraine does not disclose how many vehicles it has lost. “We examine the roads they are using, then we hide and wait until we fire at ambushes,” Sgt. Knignitski said.
Lack of experience also held the Russians back. Many of its elite units had been left in ruins in previous engagements, and the army called in newly recruited soldiers untrained in Ukrainian ambush tactics to take their place.
Ukrainian soldiers said they captured a medic assigned to operate a tank, a sign Russia is running out of experienced tank commanders.
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For decades, the Russian army focused on and even mythologized tank warfare, a nod to Russian victories over the Nazis in 2nd war. Factories in the Ural Mountains produced tanks by the thousands.
But at Vuhledar Moscow lost so many tanks last week that it changed tactics, resorting only to infantry attacks, according to Ukrainian commanders.
Ambushes have been Ukraine’s signature tactic against Russian armored forces since the war’s early days. From a bunker in the city, Lieutenant Bayak spotted the first column of about 15 tanks and armored vehicles approaching via drone video. “We are ready. We knew something like this would happen.”
They had prepared a killing zone along a dirt road. Antitank teams armed with American infraredguided Javelins and Ukrainian StugnaP laserguided missiles activated hidden in trees. A little further away the artillery batteries stood ready. The dirt road was left minefree while the surrounding fields were armed with mines to lure the Russians forward while preventing the tanks from turning back. “The commander only had to give an order over the radio: ‘To battle!'” Lieutenant Bayak said.
Armed Forces of Ukraine/via AP
Destroyed Russian tanks on a battlefield near Vuhledar in this picture from February this year. Fighting in the region is costing vehicles on an unprecedented scale in a year of conflict Photo: Armed Forces of Ukraine/via AP
The magnitude of Russia’s defeat has been underscored by Russian military bloggers, who have become an influential prowar voice in the country. Often critical of the military, they have published angry speeches about the failure of repeated tank attacks, blaming the generals for misguided tactics with a famous Russian weapon.
Gray Zone, a Telegram channel for the Wagner mercenary group, wrote on Monday that “relatives of the dead are almost out for murder and revenge against the general” responsible for the attacks near Vuhledar.
ambush tactics
The line of Russian tanks becomes more vulnerable, Lieutenant Bayak explains, after the gunfire begins and the drivers panic and try to turn around and pull to the edge of the mineladen road. Exploded vehicles act as a deterrent, slowing or immobilizing the convoy of vehicles. At this point, the Ukrainian artillery opened fire, blowing up more tanks and killing the soldiers exiting the tanks.
The Ukrainian tank crew, who prayed before each battle, nicknamed their tank the Wanderer because of its wandering movements across the battlefield. Soldier Hrebenok, only 20 years old, had no formal tank combat training at the start of the war. But in the hectic early days of the war, he was assigned to a tank, and he’s been fighting in them ever since, learning tricks along the way.
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Lack of education is still a problem. Ukraine is also losing skilled soldiers who are being replaced by inexperienced recruits. And many Ukrainian tank crews are trained on Western tanks in countries like Germany and Britain. “I acquired all my knowledge on site,” he said.
In the last major clash a week ago, at gray dawn, orders came to prepare an ambush against a column of 16 Russian tanks and armored vehicles advancing on Ukrainian lines. The crew said the prayer, tapped the tank and moved on. “We hid the tank in a line of trees and waited for them,” said Private Hrebenok. “It’s always scary, but we have to destroy them.”
The Russian column stopped at the mines and then The Wanderer opened fire. The Russian tank crews had few chances. “We destroyed many Russian tanks. What they did wrong was coming to Ukraine.”