A three-week battle in the southern Ukraine town of Voehledar culminated in an epic battle and the largest tank battle of the war to date, according to Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian army mounted an ambush that led to a catastrophic Russian ‘tank graveyard’. For the Russians, the battle turned into a painful defeat with disastrous losses.
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Blown up by mines, hit by artillery or destroyed by anti-tank missiles. The charred casings of Russian armored vehicles are everywhere in the fields in Voehledar. According to the Ukrainian army, Russia has lost at least 130 tanks and armored cars in the battle. Once again, the Russian army has committed the same mistake by ambushing armored columns.
“We studied the roads they used, hid and waited” — then to strike, Ukrainian sergeant Artyom Knignitsky revealed to The New York Times. From a bunker in Voehledar, Lieutenant Vladislav Bayak in turn saw via drone images how tanks and armored cars approached. “We were ready,” he said. “We knew something like this would happen.”
During the long battle, both sides sent tanks into battle, driving on dirt roads and maneuvering around rows of trees. The Russians advanced in columns as usual and the Ukrainians maneuvered on the defensive, firing from range or from their hiding places as Russian columns came into their sights.
The Ukrainian army had prepared a so-called ‘dead zone’ further along a dirt road. The Ukrainians were hidden behind the rows of trees in their camouflaged tanks, ready to strike with anti-tank weapons. Artillery batteries stood ready ahead. The dirt road had been kept free of mines, while the surrounding fields were littered with them. In this way the Russians were tempted to advance immediately and at the same time the Ukrainians could prevent the Russian tanks from turning back.
A tank column is most vulnerable when firing begins and drivers try to turn around in panic and then drive into the mine-strewn berm, Lieutenant Bayak said. Inflated vehicles then act as obstacles, slowing or stopping the column. Just then, Ukrainian artillery opens fire, blowing up more armored vehicles and killing soldiers trying to climb out of the knocked-out tanks. Great chaos ensues amidst explosions.
The magnitude of the Russian defeat has been underlined by Russian military bloggers, who have spread furious reports of the repeated failures of tank attacks, blaming the generals who used wrong tactics.
Gray Zone, a Telegram channel affiliated with the mercenary group Wagner, reported on Monday that “relatives of the dead are almost inclined to murder and blood libel against the general” who led the attacks at Voehledar.
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