Thread by @RALee85

Interesting interview from a Russian tabloid with a Russian tanker who fought in Ukraine. He said they removed the roof screens because they obstructed the use of their machine guns and radios and made it difficult to quickly dismount in case of a fire.
mk.ru/politics/2022/…

He said the Ukrainians don't have a large military but they are experienced and have an advantage in UAVs, mortars, ATGMs, thermal optics, and communications (he mentions Starlink). He also said they had good intelligence from the US and from Ukrainian civilians sharing info. 2/

He also said many Ukrainian positions are equipped with cameras, which were used to locate/track Russian units. He said Ukrainian forces use thermal optics or UAVs to locate Russian units, then share that info digitally on tablets, and then quickly target them with mortars. 3/

"We didn't have that." Notably, Russian Strelets-M systems are supposed to have some of these functions, so it isn't clear whether his unit lacked them or if they weren't effective. Strelets-M systems have been captured by Ukrainian forces. 4/

He said Ukraine fought with 10-man teams that employed recon-sabotage group tactics. They would occupy positions in forests/tree lines and change everyday. He said all of the fights happened at distances of more than 4km. He fought in Kharkiv so other areas might be different. 5/

He said thermal optics are critical and that reactive armor on tanks was very effective. He said the thermal imager on his T-72B3 tank played a key role during a battle near Kamyanka on March 25 because he could see Ukrainian troops through a fog but they couldn't see him. 6/

He claims that he observed 10 Javelin ATGM strikes on Russian tanks and only one led to a K-kill. He said he and other tankers were given concussions from Javelin strikes though. When he was injured he said he was ground CASEVACED and then flown from Izyum to Belgorod by helo. 7/

The tanker, Captain Alexey Ukhachyov, was sent back to Ukraine after recovering and was killed on May 10 in Balakliya by a Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile. The author of the article said his earnings from the article would be spent on buying UAVs for Russian troops. 8/