Russian Tank Convoy Blunders into Ukrainian Minefield

20 May, 2024 A green flag vehicle of a Russian tank column is blown up by a mine, May 2024 During the offensive, the Russians sent their own tank convoy of six vehicles on the Ukrainian minefield. The video was released by the Russian side.

The footage shows one of the episodes of the offensive, during which the command launched a tank unit into a minefield, without warning them about the threat. The author of the video with the call sign "Chelyabinsk," who seems to have coordinated the work of two tank platoons from the command post, sent a convoy along a well-trodden dirt road through the field towards the Ukrainian positions. However, the invaders had problems with anti-tank mines and the Ukrainian ATGM crew: the roads were densely mined, according to other military officials.

"Kuzya, the driver is 300 [wounded], the triplex is broken," the invaders were informing "Chelyabinsk", while reporting about the consequences of blowing up the tank on a mine. In response to this, the commander only ordered them to drive blindly, using cameras. "Chelyabinsk" immediately informed the top officer with the call sign "Geyser" about the mines that were not mentioned in the offensive plan, which already caused damage to two Russian tanks. The top officer, in his turm, made it clear that no mines should be there, and the tank unit should continue to move.

Shortly after this dialogue, a third tank that was at the end of the convoy, exploded with detonation of ammunition.

A green flag vehicle of a Russian tank column is blown up by a mine, May 2024

It is not known what caused the next "meat assault" of the Russian invaders. It is possible that the road was secretly mined by the Ukrainian military or that the Russians got the road wrong. Previously, Militarnyi reported that Ukrainian units of unmanned aircraft complexes used drones for remote mining of tracks behind the rear of the occupiers with TM-62 anti-tank mines.

Multi-rotor drones, able to hang above the desired place and have a large supply of payload, were used for such tasks. Such drones are actively used by Ukrainian companies of strike drones as bombers.

The multirotor drone is armed with the TM-62 anti-tank mine

To prevent the mine from exploding when falling and being properly suspended, it is equipped with an electric "smart" detonator. It turns on the ground some time after the reset and runs on a battery for up to 14 days.

Operation with subsequent detonation of the mine can occur in the event of large metal objects or when the mine itself moves.

To do this, the detonator has a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer.