RIA Novostipublished an article under the heading “A scout told how the Ukrainian military surrendered, boiled in tanks,” which says:
“Ukrainian tankers, who were blocked from the outside in their own tanks, are slowly going to surrender, turning away the cannon, and then tapping the SOS signal from the inside on the armor,” a Russian intelligence officer of the Western Military District in the village of Novoselovskaya in the LPR told RIA Novosti.
According to him, the Russian military found tanks, combat armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, in which the Ukrainian military were welded from all sides.
“That is, everything was done so that the crew could not leave the car. They forcibly made suicide bombers out of them. But they also want to live,” recalls the source of the agency. According to the Russian, he saw the actions of Ukrainian tankers in such a situation both in photographs and with his own eyes.
“They turn the turret (with a cannon. – Ed.) back, slowly drive towards our positions and stop, turn off the engine. Shouts and blows are heard from the tank. Basically, they hit three short ones – three long ones – three short ones, that is, an SOS signal. Our technicians are pulling them out of there, ”added the commando.
The blockaded Ukrainians, as the Russian military noted, for the most part are no longer fighting – they “understand that this is certain death.”
Roman Skomorokhov, a columnist for the completely pro-Russian website Voyennoye Obozreniye, commented on this material as follows:
“We sat for a long time and thought together [with columnist Alexei Kuznetsov], why do we need this? Well, it seems that all Russians should be smart and educated people, why is it that from time to time someone wedges, and such heresy is carried on the air that one involuntarily wants to yell: “Sprinkle the country!”. <…>
Well, Ukrainians are patient, right? Somehow they were stuffed into the tank, the hatches were closed, they were boiled, and they … went to fight! Well, or give up so that they are unmurdered. Funny, of course, if it weren't so sad.
Our tank expert Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Kuznetsov took all this nonsense too seriously. And threw a few thoughts about it.
1. Brewing the hatch as a whole is not as easy as it seems. For this, as it were, an automatic inverter is not enough, after all, armor. And in this regard, simply welding a stud for a remote control is already a difficult task, and if you need to digest a lot of them, then in general it turns out a show for perverts.
And to weld the hatch, even just grab it in several places so that they don’t open it – it will be interesting. Besides, okay, hatches in the towers, but what to do with the "hero's hatch"? Which one is on the bottom? Who and where will brew it? Where can I find such an overpass or a welding maniac who will pull it off from the inside? <…>
2. The problem of movement. Even in battle, when it flies over the tank from all sides, the commander's hatch does not close. For two reasons at once. If you seriously think that a tank can be clearly driven with the help of a prism and TKN, then you should not think so. You have to “raise the periscope”, that is, stick your head out of the hatch, and then dive back. This is for the commander. Mechanical driver – depending on the model of the tank. The second reason is the desire to survive undermining.
3. Unlock. The tank is, of course, yes, so perfect and almost autonomous, but it still needs to be refueled, maintained and replenished with ammunition. <…>
A disposable crew – well, this is completely nonsense, the tank is expensive, and turning it into a car for one battle is stupid. But not everyone understands this.
We read how the heroic fighters of the DPR unblocked such a tank with a “Bulgarian” and laughed a lot. Of course, the "Bulgarian" – it is in every trench, along with a powerful gas generator. It's easier than ever to pull this off in a modern conflict.
4. Terpily-downs inside the tank. Well, really, it’s interesting to know where such crews come from? They seem to be planted inside the tank at gunpoint, they do not flutter and regularly drive towards the enemy, only to depict something with the gun barrel there. Perfect crew, I must say.
So imagine yourself in the place of such fighters? They take you, put you in a tank, weld up the hatches and order you to blame the enemy and beat him. Here we would, in all seriousness, first take up these miracle welders, since no one canceled machine guns on tanks. And there, at the command of a cannon, you can light it up. And why not, still a suicide bomber, still die in a boiled tank, so why go somewhere? Everything can be done on the spot.
In general – complete nonsense, designed for elderly grandmothers and middle-aged housewives.
Skomorokhov and Kuznetsov found the source of stories about welded hatches. On Channel 5, a fighter from the “LPR militia” Gennady Menchenko spoke about an incident that allegedly happened in 2014:
“I had such a case: a tank was walking – they wanted to shoot it, but it was driving and waving its barrel up and down. Has stopped. I gave the command not to shoot, went up to him with a grenade, looked – and the hatches were sealed, they could not get out. We had to cut the hatch with a grinder, and there were boys 18 years old. They said that they were forcibly, at gunpoint, driven into tanks and sent to fight. It was in Debaltseve in 2014.”
Such stories Skomorokhov and Kuznetsov are called tales, relevant only in a smoking room. There is nothing to add to this analysis of military observers – again, supporters of the war, regarding Ukraine as an enemy – there is nothing to add.