WATCH rare tank battle in Donbass
A Russian tank fended off two Ukrainian armored foes in a rare, close-quarter skirmish, destroying one of them on the spot, a new video that emerged online on Sunday shows.
The tank-on-tank battle reportedly took place in a village near the city of Pokrovsk (also known as Krasnoarmeysk), the largest settlement to remain under Ukrainian control in the west of the Donetsk People’s Republic. In recent weeks, Russian troops have liberated multiple locations to the south and southwest of the city.
The drone video shows a Russian military convoy advancing along a road towards a wooded area on the outskirts of the village. The convoy is headed by a tank, with three other pieces appearing to be heavily up-armored infantry fighting vehicles (IFV).
Upon reaching the wooded area, the convoy encounters two Ukrainian tanks advancing along the road.
The Russian tank and the leading Ukrainian one open fire, with both apparently missing their first shots, footage shows. In the meantime, the IFVs disperse and take cover on the outskirts of the wooded area.
The Russian armor then lands several hits on the Ukrainian tank, which catches fire and is rendered inoperative. One of the shells fired by the Russian vehicle appears to ricochet off an electric post that crashes onto the road, the video suggests.
The second Ukrainian tank retreats, and several FPV kamikaze drones are dispatched to hunt it down. The vehicle reportedly ended up destroyed as well.
Direct tank-on-tank combat has been an extremely rare occurrence in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, largely due to the extremely high density of assorted drones deployed by both sides onto the battlefield. The tanks have been effectively used by both Moscow and Kiev as mobile artillery, operating from covered firing positions, while heavily up-armored versions have been serving as breacher vehicles to lead assaults on enemy positions.
