How the Russian military delivers captured "combat units" from the special operation zone
An exhibition of captured equipment continues to work on Poklonnaya Gora in Moscow. Every morning, by the time of opening, there is a kilometer-long queue in front of the entrance. People come in whole families to see with their own eyes what the Russian soldiers are up against in their own zone. But our military has its own plans for this equipment: it is being evacuated in order to study it comprehensively. What shortcomings of Western vehicles were revealed during the special operation and how the damaged combat units are evacuated from the battlefield — in the material of Izvestia.
Not for this theater
— The main task during the evacuation of captured vehicles is to study their design, devices, and production technologies by our specialized institutes of the Ministry of Defense and design bureaus of industrial enterprises. This is the main goal," Deputy Chief of the Main Armored Personnel Carrier Directorate (GABTU) of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Sergei Shalenyi, said at the exhibition.
According to him, the exposition mainly presents not the newest samples. And the main conclusion that can be drawn from the results of their study is that Western technology is not very suitable for work in Ukraine and in new Russian regions.
M777 howitzer
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
— There are no advantages of these machines in the theater of military operations where they are used over our machines. I declare it responsibly," the general said. — The use of the enemy revealed a lot of weaknesses of this technique. For example, we all believed that the Western school of tank building, it mainly focuses on the security of its vehicles. But any combat vehicle is a balance of qualities such as firepower, mobility and security. In any case, an increase in one indicator leads to an inevitable decrease in the others.
For example, an increase in the mass of a car has an extremely negative effect on its mobility, patency, and ability to transport it. The exposition presented at the exhibition allows you to clearly see: "Abrams" and "Leopards" are much larger than tanks of the old Soviet school. And off-road, heavy weight and dimensions become a serious disadvantage. And the security achieved by increasing the size and weight is still offset by modern means of destruction.
Leopard 2A6 Tank
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
— Self-defense has not justified itself here in any way, but nevertheless we have a large number of stuck cars, a large number of cars that the enemy cannot evacuate himself. The complexity of their device involves repair only at stationary production bases. Accordingly, there is no military repair, their rapid return to service. There is no question about it at all. Now we see very few of these vehicles on the line of contact. Because they are out of order and require repair, — said Sergey Shalenyi.
Work for heroes
The large weight, size and complex structure of Western equipment are also becoming a problem for Russian evacuation teams, said the deputy head of the GABTU. And besides that, the opposition of the Ukrainian formations.
— The main difficulty lies in the fact that the enemy is quite sensitive to these machines, which have been transferred by the West, and in principle takes all measures to prevent their evacuation, — explained Shaleny. — Therefore, it almost always occurs under the influence of fire. The APU is also trying to conduct remote mining of the evacuation area.
Before each evacuation, the Russian military conducts technical engineering reconnaissance, determines the condition of the car, the ability to pull it out, and the necessary funds. Immediately at the time of removal of the vehicle, electronic warfare equipment is turned on. Often, the preparation and evacuation itself take more than one day.
M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Image source: Photo: Global Look Press/Keystone Press Agency/Sgt. Tara Fajardo Arteaga
Every time during evacuation, military personnel have to solve one or another technical problem. For example, the Leopard-2 tank, which is presented at the exhibition, did not rotate the track belts, there was a problem in the transmission. As a result, they decided to undermine them and evacuate the car on the support rollers, and then take out the tape separately. And the Abrams standing next to it in the exposition practically had no running gear. The Ukrainian formations, unable to take the tank to their rear, struck at it so that it would go to the Russian military in the worst possible condition. The 65-ton car was evacuated by two tractors.
According to the deputy head of the GABTU, all military personnel who take part in such difficult and dangerous work are presented with state awards.
The exhibition of captured equipment captured by Russian troops in the special operation zone opened on Poklonnaya Gora on May 1 and will last until the end of the month. It presents more than 30 samples of both Soviet and Western production.
M1A1 Abrams tank
Image source: Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov
Viewers can see such equipment as the French AMX-10RC armored combat vehicle, the American M2 Bradley BMP, the American M113 armored personnel carrier, the Turkish Kirpi armored car, the American MAXXPRO Plus armored car and others. In the center of the exhibition is a burnt—out Abrams tank along with two engineering vehicles on the same chassis, as well as a German Leopard 2 tank and a Marder BMP. American and German tanks were delivered to Poklonnaya Gora a few hours before the opening of the exhibition — they had been evacuated from the battlefield only a few days earlier. And the Marder BMP was captured last summer in the Zaporozhye direction, when the AFU launched its failed counteroffensive.
Roman Kretsul
Andrey Fedorov
