Tactics of the Kadyrov fighters?
Russia may be using old vehicles as rolling bombs
07/13/2023 11:58 am
According to British intelligence, the Russian armed forces are using another perfidious method to attack the Ukrainians. Accordingly, old vehicles are converted into rolling bombs. It is assumed that the procedure can be traced back to units from Chechnya.
According to British intelligence, Russia is also using improvised vehicle bombs in its war of aggression against Ukraine. In June there were reports that Russian forces had used outdated armored vehicles with several tons of explosives as rolling bombs, the Ministry of Defense in London said on Twitter. The crew probably jumped out of the vehicle after takeoff. Most Russian cases have been reported around Marjinka near the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the Defense Ministry’s daily update said.
The British bring the cases together with units from the Russian republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. The bombings began after Chechen forces reinforced the region, the ministry wrote. It also pointed out that Chechen units had experience with improvised explosive devices from the Chechen wars of the 1990s.
The Ministry of Defense in London believes that most of these primed Russian vehicles “almost certainly” exploded before they reached their destination due to anti-tank mines and shelling. However, these explosive devices triggered extremely large explosions that would likely have a psychological effect on the defense forces.
Remote-controlled tank was probably also loaded
A video was already circulating on Twitter in mid-June, which is supposed to show a remote-controlled Ukrainian T-54 tank in the said region around Marjinka. Apparently, he was previously hijacked by Russian forces, filled with explosives and then sent back to Ukrainian positions on autopilot. The T-54 tanks are considered highly outdated. They were developed in the Soviet Union several decades ago.
According to Austrian Colonel Markus Reisner, the attacks are a tactic already known from the days of the so-called Islamic State. Its fighters also loaded tanks with up to 1,000 kilograms of explosives and sent them to enemy positions.
Speaking to ntv.de, Reisner said of the tactics used by the Russian armed forces: “They want to use this to make a breach in the defense of Ukraine. It’s also reminiscent of the time of the Second World War. There was the so-called Goliath and Borgward on the German side. These were two similarly designed special tanks that were also intended to make a breach in the enemy and then push through that breach. That’s obviously what the Russians are trying to do.”