A Ukrainian military officer decided to call Moscow’s tech support when he experienced issues with the captured Russian tank he was operating.
The hilarious battlefield moment was captured in a video uploaded by local media outlet Militarnyi on YouTube and reported afterward by Forbes.
The soldier, only identified as Kochevnik, trolled representatives of Russian tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod about a T-72B3 armored vehicle spewing oil and exhibiting symptoms of faulty compressors.
“I am the commander of an armor group, and the problem is we simply cannot operate it,” Kochevnik said in the conversation.
Response
The person on the other side of the line responded to Kochevnik by first introducing himself as Aleksander Anatolevich, a staff member at Uralvagonzavod.
He was unaware that the call came from a Ukrainian soldier and that the tank being repaired was already in possession of Kyiv’s forces.
The representative assured the complainant that he would raise the concern with the design bureau and the engine manufacturer for possible technical support.
The call was also transferred to an alleged Uralvagonzavod director, who then instructed Kochevnik to report the tank’s issues via WhatsApp.
But the Ukrainian officer suddenly revealed his identity and even left a mocking suggestion for the future.
“Look, I’m the commander of the armored group K-2. This is the second mechanized battalion of Ukraine’s 54th Mechanized Brigade,” Kochevnik said.
“When we take more of these tanks as our trophies, make them better so that it will be easier for us to operate them. Agreed? Thank you very much. Take care of yourselves. Glory to Ukraine!”
Captured Tanks
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has reportedly lost two-thirds of its tanks due to stiff Ukrainian resistance.
Out of the 3,000 tanks it initially deployed, around 2,329 have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned, or captured, according to open-source intelligence website Oryx.
Among the captured Russian tanks in Ukraine are T-72s, T-80s, and T-90s.