Video: Lone Ukrainian tank takes on entire Russian armored convoy Ukrainian T-64 tank. (Vitalii Strutynskyi/Ukrainian Ministry of Defense)
Video emerged on Tuesday of a lone Ukrainian T-64BV tank attacking an entire convoy of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles.
The video of the battle showed the Ukrainian tank in a stationary position behind cover, firing upon the Russian column as it moves down an adjacent roadway. Rob Lee, who has been a prominent analyst of the ongoing war in Ukraine, assessed that the Ukrainian tank destroyed a Russian BTR-82A armored personnel carrier during the battle.
Remarkable video showing a Ukrainian ambush on a Russian armored column. It appears a Ukrainian T-64BV tank destroyed a Russian BTR-82A before Ukrainian artillery engages the column at the end. Russian troops dismount during the fight. https://t.co/MTkxg0mmtM pic.twitter.com/k1JlV2JDG3
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 5, 2022
After the first Russian armored vehicles were destroyed, other Russian BTRs could be seen firing either machine guns or 30mm autocannons sporadically in the Ukrainian tank’s general direction.
The exact location of the battle was unclear, though one Twitter user indicated it took place around the Ukrainian village of Nova Basan, near the northeastern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv.
The video ended with footage purportedly showing Ukrainian artillery strikes against the Russian armored column.
It was not immediately clear how many Russian vehicles were damaged in the tank and artillery strikes.
The tank battle footage has gone viral. The video in Lee’s tweet garnered over 100,000 views since he posted it on Tuesday afternoon. Another Twitter user who shared the video earlier in the day has already garnered over 500,000 views.
Exact losses for the war are similarly difficult to verify at this time. As of Monday, the Ukrainian side claimed Russia has lost about 18,500 troops, 150 planes, 134 helicopters, 676 tanks and 1,858 armored personnel vehicles in the 40 days of fighting so far. Ukraine said Russia has lost another 55 anti-aircraft systems, 107 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), 76 fuel tanks, 332 artillery pieces, 94 drones, seven naval vessels, four mobile short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) launchers, 25 pieces of special equipment and 1,322 other military vehicles.
While Ukraine has had some notable successes against Russia’s armored forces, Russia still has large numbers of troops and equipment to call upon. On Monday, a U.S. defense official said, during an official background call, “we still assess that the vast, vast majority of the more than 125 battalion tactical groups that the Russians invested in this invasion are still in Ukraine.”
“There are parts of that inventory that [Russian forces] have less of than others, particularly cruise missiles,” the official added, moments later. “But they still have a vast array available to them.”
