The soldiers of the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade have been destroying russian weapons and military equipment with captured Kornet anti-tank missile systems for almost a year. ArmyInform spoke with Ukrainian soldiers who are destroying the occupiers with captured weaponry.
"The captured russian ATGM Kornet was handed over to us by the reconnaissance team last autumn," recounts the ATGM crew commander, Pavlo, with the call sign "Naum." It was during a successful operation to retake one of the enemy positions where they discovered this trophy weapon. For almost a year now, this ATGM has been used to destroy russian targets. In addition to the launcher itself, there were also numerous missiles accompanying it.
Read more: Ukrainian Warriors Showed How They Eliminating Another BMP-2 IFV With Stugna-P ATGM Near Bakhmut (Video)
The captured ATGM system was in good working condition, with only a few scratches. Along with the system, a camouflage net was also included.
The advantages of the Kornet ATGM, as mentioned by our soldiers, include improved functionality and a firing range of 5.5 km. When comparing the russian Kornet with the Ukrainian Stugna anti-tank missile systems, our ATGM system undoubtedly has a crucial conceptual advantage in terms of remote control. It allows for the operation of the system at a relatively safe distance of 50 meters from the launcher.
It is worth noting that the russians decided to "copy" this feature and have already demonstrated it on their Fagot ATGM systems. Although russian propagandists traditionally present their own remote control system for ATGMs as a "breakthrough" that "even NATO doesn't have." It remains unclear whether such a development will go beyond the group of enthusiasts who created it.
Ukrainian fighters also emphasize that reaching the position from where they will destroy enemy equipment with the ATGMs is quite challenging. They have to approach the position at night, avoiding unnecessary attention, with headlights turned off and at a low speed.
In one case, as told by the ATGM platoon driver, Oleksandr, they had to walk five kilometers to reach the position. They managed to destroy a tank of the russian occupying forces at a distance of 4 km.
It is worth mentioning that the Kornet ATGMs are also successfully used by the anti-tank units of the 87th Division of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This year, the brigade's press service published footage of Ukrainian soldiers using captured weaponry to disable the russian state-of-the-art T-90M Proryv tank, which was later finished off with Molotov bullets fired from a UAV.
Also, earlier this month, another T-90M was hit by fighters of the 47th OMBr "Magura"
Read more: Ukrainian Drones Disabled a russian T-90 With Improvised Explosives (Video)
