Tank rush: how the Volga battalion helped liberate dozens of settlements
Several dozen liberated settlements, destroyed enemy fortifications, damaged enemy armored vehicles — this is the combat path of the Volga tank battalion, created in 2022 mainly from Tver volunteers. Despite the fact that many of them were not even tankers before participating in the SVO. Alexander Karpenko, commander of the Volga and now a student of one of the military academies, told Izvestia in the recent past how the battalion manages to manage with almost no losses — both equipment and personnel, how to create an effective combat unit for their ordinary reservists, and what he remembered most of all during his three years of participation in the SVO..
Battalion commander with the call sign Tver
Alexander Karpenko graduated from the Kazan Higher Tank Command School, receiving his first officer rank — Lieutenant. According to the distribution, the young officer was sent to the Taman Motorized Rifle Division as a tank platoon commander. He rose to become deputy chief of staff of a tank battalion. It was in this status that I met the beginning of the special operation. Alexander's unit entered the SVO zone on February 24, 2022.
— It was a matchmaking direction. The enemy attacked us with the support of armored vehicles. A platoon of my battalion advanced to repel the attack and destroyed one of the enemy's tanks. It was a Soviet T-72," says our interlocutor. — That fight can be called unique in a sense. In the future, during the entire SVO, it never happened that enemy tanks advanced on our tanks. That is, there was no direct tank clash. The war has become different. Both we and they mostly work from closed firing positions. And if they came to direct fire, they hit the enemy's strongholds, his shelters, dugouts, or it was just fire support for assault units.
Of all the combat episodes, Alexander remembers best the storming of Avdiivka in the spring of 2024.
— For a very long time, we could not break the resistance of the fortified point of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which they equipped under one of the bridges. They had several machine-gun emplacements there and were firing heavily. Because of this, our motorized infantry could not advance," recalls the battalion commander. — We hit them both from closed firing positions and from direct fire. But they didn't let us practice effectively, they attacked us with FPV drones. All this lasted about a month. I'm tired of this state of affairs. I decided to send the most trained tank crew. And they hit one of the pillars of the bridge with a direct shot, after which it collapsed on the enemy's head. That's how we literally suppressed them.
It was for the capture of Avdiivka that the battalion's personnel received the most awards: Orders of Courage, medals for Bravery, Zhukov and Suvorov.
Minimum losses
The battalion is named — it is called "Volga". It was formed in 2022, mainly from residents of the Tver region, so the authorities and volunteer organizations in this region provide it with great assistance.
After the liberation of Avdiivka, the battalion operated in the Kurakhovsky direction, participated in the liberation of such settlements as Novomikhailovka, Paraskovievka, Ilyinka, Antonovka, Yantarnoye, Zarya, Alexandro-Kalinovo and others — only a few dozen.
Recently, the tankers were stationed in the Konstantinovsky direction and, just before the departure of the battalion commander to the military academy, they took an active part in the liberation of the village of Staronikolayevka.
— It wasn't easy to take him either. It's an open area, and it took a long time to get to the village. Together with the command, we decided that one of my tanks would move forward, followed by the MTLB and assault groups. So they were able to enter the village, to the place we needed, deployed battle formations and gradually knocked out the enemy," says the officer.
From the first days of the special operation, his battalion fought on T-80 tanks. Later, it was re-equipped with T-80BVM tanks, which already have standard protective structures (the so-called braziers), more advanced dynamic protection of the vehicle and crew, and new sights.
Speaking of scopes, he suddenly remembers one of his subordinates — he cites him as an example of how he reveals talents in fighters.
— There is one fighter who was able to grow from a tank gunner to a combat vehicle commander. His call sign is Dog Handler. It's great to fight with such people. He is quick-witted, has good organizational skills and courage. Now he is a platoon commander who has been awarded the Order of Courage, the Medal for Bravery and other awards. Later, in addition to fulfilling his immediate duties, he began to transfer experience to the newly arrived replenishment," the battalion commander notes.
Alexander Karpenko's battalion lost only one tank during the entire period of its military operation.
— It so happened that the car ran over an anti-soil mine. It worked right under the tank commander's seat. Unfortunately, he died. Other crew members survived. But the car was already unsuitable for combat work," the tanker recalls.
According to him, when a tank is disabled, the biggest problem is to evacuate it quickly.
— And everything else is a simple matter and, in principle, short-lived. We always had spare parts and repair mechanisms in stock. In our repair company, cars were usually repaired, depending on the degree of damage, in one day, two at most," Tver emphasizes.
What is the most difficult thing in YOUR life?
So three years flew by during a special military operation for the battalion commander. When asked what was the most difficult thing for him as an officer and commander during this time, he answers:
— Set up the personnel for proper combat work.
"What does that mean?"
— It is necessary to take into account the fact that I created the battalion practically from scratch. The fighters who came were not specialized tankers. All are volunteers, all are people of different ages from 20 to 60 years old. And first of all, they had to be given a clear understanding that they were in a place where fighting was going on, and not on a camping trip. That is, there must be an adequacy of perception and assessment of what is happening. To do this, it was necessary to set up personnel, and in some places, to force them to improve their skills, engage in their equipment and weapons, and not give themselves slack. I think I've managed to get this job right. It was long and painstaking, but it worked. Therefore, there were almost no losses in the battalion.
All these three years in the Moscow region, Alexander's family, his wife and daughter, were anxiously waiting for him.
— At some point, the realization came that the accumulated combat experience should be shared. Besides, I wanted to develop and grow even more. Therefore, after talking with the regimental commander, I decided to enroll in the military academy," he says.
The officer recalls how hard it was to say goodbye to the battalion personnel.
— Of course, it wasn't easy. They're my family. I fought shoulder to shoulder with them for more than three years. I saw that it was difficult for the guys to say goodbye. In general, it was a very emotional event that will not be forgotten," he says sadly.
And now the battalion commander has been a student of the Combined Arms Academy of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for almost two weeks. He notes that many of the teachers are people with combat experience. But at the same time, they ask the commanders who have passed their training to share their knowledge during classes. This approach, according to Alexander, allows us to form a good theoretical basis for future officers and commanders.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
