A Russian T-62MV Obr. 2022, knocked out near Krynky.
Captured by the Ukrainian military
On October 19, Ukrainian Marines crossed the Dnipro River and secured a bridgehead on the otherwise Russian-occupied left bank of the river in a series of infantry operations in and around the settlement of Krynky.
Capturing and holding a bridgehead is a first step for the command in southern Ukraine as it seeks to sustain the country’s southern counteroffensive – which began in June but has stalled in recent weeks – and sets the stage for a possible advance deeper into the Russian-controlled south of Kherson Oblast. The gateway to occupied Crimea.
The Kremlin knows it. And we have now seen the first thin evidence in several weeks that Russian motor rifle regiments in southern Kherson have attempted an armored counterattack on the increasingly dug-in Ukrainian marines.
For the Russians, this evidence is not good news. Sometime last week, Ukrainian drones apparently took out a Russian T-62 tank just a few miles east of Krynky.
And not just any T-62. An improved Obr. 2022 version of the vintage tank from the 1960s. When Russian tank losses in Ukraine exceeded thousands last year, the Kremlin pulled hundreds of the 41-ton, four-person tanks from storage.
Some were shipped to the front without significant upgrades. Others received modern 1PN96MT-02 thermal imaging sights and became T-62M Obr. 2022s. Or T-62MV Obr. 2022s with additional reactive armor.
We didn’t see much of the T-62 Obr. 2022 in use, but last week there was a Russian media report about troops in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia Oblast training with this type.
It is possible that some of the same units that trained in Zaporizhia were also deployed west towards Krynky. The T-62s “have recently appeared in increasing numbers at the rear of the front, suggesting that they are being sent as reinforcements to the Kherson axis,” the independent Conflict Intelligence Team noted.
How the Russians used their T-62MV Obr. 2022 against the Krynky bridgehead is not entirely clear. Russian forces tend to use their older tanks – T-62s, T-55s and T-54s – as improvised howitzers rather than sending them to directly attack Ukrainian positions.
As a howitzer, a T-62 could greatly elevate its 115-millimeter main gun and fire at a distance of five miles. At this distance, the tank could avoid direct counterfire from Ukrainian tanks and missile teams.
The T-62 that these Ukrainian drones struck near Krynky was probably only a mile or two or even closer to the nearest Ukrainian position. It may have attempted a direct attack on the Krynky bridgehead, perhaps as part of a larger combined force.
In any case, the tank did not survive the mission. Ukrainian drones swarmed in and struck it down.
This result should come as no surprise. While the Russian Air Force has regional air superiority and can drop glide bombs on Krynky from 25 miles away, the Ukrainians have greater control at the local level.
In the weeks leading up to the Marines’ successful river crossing, Ukrainian troops suppressed and jammed Russian air defenses and drones on the left bank of the Dnipro, then used their own drones for surveillance, attack and resupply missions.
Until the Russians can shoot down the Ukrainian drones patrolling Krynky, future attacks on the beachhead could end the way the possible T-62 attack ended. With a destroyed and smoking tank.
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