The Lords of the Ring: how tankers destroy the enemy encircled in Krasnoarmeysk
In Krasnoarmeysk, surrounded by the forces of the Center group of forces, Ukrainian militants are being destroyed by all means of fire destruction — artillery, aircraft, drones. Strikes in the city are carried out against enemy infantry concentrations, deployment sites and warehouses. Tankers also take an active part in the assault — they, as a rule, fire from closed positions. A correspondent of Izvestia has learned how our fighters protect their vehicles from drones, what a "semi-mobile" is and why the Internet is needed in the combat compartment.
Delivery group
Currently, tankers of the 506th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 27th Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the Center group of forces are firing from closed firing positions. Their combat vehicles, like many other types of classic military equipment, are being used in new ways. In particular, they were protected from kamikaze drones along the entire length of the advance and withdrawal routes, as well as directly at firing positions.
We start the road to them together with a pick-up group, which delivers us on a brand-new Ulan army SUV. On the front line, these vehicles are gradually replacing self-made pickups based on civilian vehicles.
A chain of aerial surveillance posts stretches along the entire road. The fighter in the cockpit exchanges signs with the observers, and on the radio informs the time of the entrance to the road section of his unit.
Turning into his "own" path, he slows down and exchanges greetings with the shooter and another group of pickups at the turn. The further we go forward, the more often surveillance posts are found at intersections, in ruins and forest plantations.
But the cabbies themselves are becoming more attentive, from the back you can see how the shooter sticks his head out of the cab and scans the sky in the dead zone above the visor.
When I arrived at my destination, it took me a while to see the position — everything was so carefully camouflaged. The T-72B3M tank is dug in and hidden in the landing so well that only after asking what and how we will go to the firing line, they show me that it is actually right here — just a few meters from where we are standing.
Next to us is the dugout and the workplace of the platoon commander. Lieutenant Alexey Gredin shows it to us. He joined the army in 2022 during the mobilization, as did the crew members we will be working with today.
The lieutenant went all the way and saw everything: direct tank attacks, and modern battles in cooperation with UAVs. Today, when shooting from closed positions, the commander works like this: he sits at a table with an electronic tablet. In parallel with him, the rest of the military personnel at the headquarters are watching the same broadcast. They are ready to take over the management if necessary.
Initiative from below
— Now we are carrying out tasks to clean up Krasnoarmeysk, we are standing at a distance of 4-5 km from the city, — says Alexey Gredin. — Assault units are ordering targets for us, and we are also working on pre-identified points. When detected, we receive a request. Goals don't matter: whether it's infantry groups or vehicles, the crew is always ready to work out.
Today, the tankers have a planned goal: a temporary enemy deployment point.
Alexey talks about a small but important novelty: the same tablet is now available in the gunner's tank. Experiments on the "internetification" of tanks in some parts are already underway, but this is not yet a generally accepted novelty, rather an "initiative from below."
Platoon commander, Lieutenant Alexey Gredin
While waiting for information about the target, we share with Alexey the story that the most famous Soviet military song about tankers, "Tanks Rumbled on the field," was a reworking of a folk miner's song about a young horse, which appeared in the early twentieth century in the Donbass, and then the mobilized miners remade it at the front.
80 years later, the pattern repeated itself. A former miner from the Sverdlovsk region, having become a tank lieutenant, supports the liberation of the mining town of Krasnoarmeysk, to which German vehicles with white crosses on their armor are rushing in vain attempts to break through to the Nazis surrounded in the city.
"Semimangal"
When the "work" command arrives, a video broadcast from the air appears on Alexey's tablet. He puts on his headphones and immerses himself in calculations.
Meanwhile, the crew climbs under layers of camouflage and metal protective nets that hide the tank. In case of working in direct contact with the enemy, he is also additionally covered with powerful additional armor structures, which have already been definitively assigned the name "braziers", there is even its own classification of protection levels.
"We have a semimangal in our car," explains tank commander Sergeant Alexey Rodichev. — The rear part is protected, that is, the engine, transmission.
Tank commander, Sergeant Alexey Rodichev
Tank positions are protected from enemy FPV drones by air surveillance posts. They are displayed along the route of the equipment.
— When moving, when changing the firing position of tanks, the fighters on them watch the sky and transmit information to me, — Alexey continues. — That's why we feel quite confident. Our PVN works very well, very efficiently.
Tanks in action
The camouflaged machine releases several projectiles — they rarely work with a full conveyor belt, the enemy's counter-battery warfare and its drones have slightly reduced their activity, but they are still very dangerous. Therefore, after confirming the defeat of the target, the camouflage of the combat vehicle is immediately restored.
Before starting the withdrawal, it is necessary to wait for some time, in case the reconnaissance UAV is inspecting the area from a height in search of a firing position or departing vehicles.
We continue to discuss technical innovations with the gunner-operator Ilya Kibordin.
— Recently, tablets began to be installed, and when working from a closed firing position on video, I introduce some minimal adjustments, focusing visually. Sometimes, two meters are important. A tank can lay a shell even from a distance of 10-11 km with an accuracy of one meter," he explains.
Gunner operator Ilya Kibordin
When we get the go-ahead to move back, we are picked up by a pickup truck again. But in a small open area between the tanks, the car slows down, the shooter Evgeny Olenichev quickly jumps out of the cockpit, cocking the bolt of the machine gun, and opens fire.
You can see how a Ukrainian shock copter with a large fiber optic coil is trying to slip between our air defense systems at high altitude. They're starting to hunt him. Everyone is shooting except the driver, who is ready to take off if necessary. The aerial target is hidden behind the terrain, and Eugene reports on the radio the direction of movement and other data of the drone, and we continue on our way.
On the way, we hear several more bursts, but there is no explosion. It becomes clear that the UAV was either shot down or lost control during one of the numerous attacks.
The days when fighters didn't know what to do with enemy drones, and were often afraid to open fire on them, telling each other creepy legends that a drone would see a flash of a shot and throw grenades in response, are over. During the passage of the Ukrainian drone, the consolidation of experience and order in the fight against kamikaze is well felt. It allows us to gradually turn the situation in the sky in our favor.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
