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​Ukrainian Troops Destroyed a russian T-72-based "Engineering Tank" in Eastern Ukraine (Photo)

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IMR-2 engineering vehicle of the russian armed forces / Archive photo
IMR-2 engineering vehicle of the russian armed forces / Archive photo

The russian army failed in its attempt to use "engineering assault squads" in Ukraine

The Arslon Xudosi Twitter profile posted photos showing the results of fighting in the near Izyum city on July 24, 2022. The Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed a detachment of the occupation forces that was trying to operate in a forest area under the cover of an IMR-2 tracked engineering vehicle.

The armored vehicle, as well as personnel, were destroyed.

Read more: New Lessons from Russian-Ukrainian War for Future Combat Actions

In itself, such a story looks strange – the unit of invaders tried to go on the offensive under the cover of an IMR-2. The explanation could be that the russian army in this way tried to work out its concept of "engineering assault squads", which were supposed to "clear" the enemy's fortifications moving out in the first echelon.

IMR-2 on the russian trainings shortly before the russian invasion of Ukraine, December 2021

But since the forest turned out to be the most troublesome obstacle for them in the Izyum area, the russians resorted to the following configuration: the IMR-2 was heading the column, followed by infantry.

The choice fell on the IMR-2 because it is a fairly powerful vehicle based on the T-72 tank chassis with high cross-country ability, with a combat weight of 44 tons and a 7.62-mm machine gun. But for the occupiers, these potentials became irrelevant immediately after they "bumped" into the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

russian army exercising the combat use of the "engineering assault squads" / Illustrative archive photo

According to the authors of the Oryx portal, the russians have already lost at least 10 IMR-2 units during the war against Ukraine in such reckless attacks. And such "engineering tanks" of the enemy hold a kind of "leadership" among the destroyed russian engineering equipment.

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