Ukrainian Drones Wiped Out Entire Squads of Russian Infantry Cowering Atop MT-LB Armored Tractors
The bloodshed in Vovchansk on Monday was horrific
The carnage was shocking. Even by the standards of Russia’s brutal, 31-month wider war on Ukraine.
On Monday, Russian troops piled onto 17 MT-LB armored tractors and, accompanied by three tanks, attacked Ukrainian lines just outside the PJSC Volchansky chemical aggregate plant in Vovchansk, in northern Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.
Just a week prior, Ukrainian special forces had liberated the plant from Russian troops who had occupied it since this summer—hanging on even after counterattacking Ukrainian troops surrounded and cut off the chemical campus.
The Ukrainian 57th Motorized Brigade defeated the Monday attack, claiming it destroyed 16 of the 17 MT-LBs and one of the three tanks. As many as 100 Russians died—and it’s apparent why. They had piled atop the 13-ton MT-LB, clearly not trusting the aging vehicle’s millimeters-thin armor to protect them from mine blasts.
Sitting on top of the tractors, however, the Russians were exposed to attacks from above. And no, layers of add-on metal plating—the improvised shell in Russia’s so-called “turtle vehicles”—didn’t help.
The 57th Motorized Brigade’s maneuverable first-person-view drones flew underneath the edges of the shells and exploded inside. Those Russians who managed to dismount from their MT-LBs were targeted by quadcopter-style drones dropping grenades.
The drones’ feeds were like snuff films. The drones observed pools of blood, dangling limbs, bisected torsos … and a few grievously injured Russians twitching their death-throes.
Open-source analysts scrutinizing videos on social media have confirmed the damage to at least seven of the MT-LB, largely confirming the scale of the Russians’ reported defeat in Vovchansk on Monday. It was a bloodbath.
Read more:
