Ukraine Armor Chaos

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/
Thanks to 31B442SV5 for this one.

Hello everyone,

do you remember the post where some idiots from Ukraine tried to start up the old IS-3 tank and actually partially succeeded? Looks like this approach became a standard for the “separatist” forces, that now are trying to allegedly raid museums (!) for ancient equipment, that served during WW2. Well, at least according to the dailymail post:

A viral video of pranksters starting up a WW2 tank as it was perched on a memorial has inspired pro-Russian rebels to plunder military museums of arms and ammunition to use in their fight to break away from Ukraine. The rebels are desperately short of any sort of military armament and after seeing the way the tank had started up despite being exposed to the elements for decades, they started scouring museums. There they have found tanks and other armoured vehicles which they now plan to enlist in the defence of the eastern city of Donetsk which has declared its independence from the Ukraine.

‘There is tons of stuff that we can make use of – mortars, heavy machine guns, truck-towed artillery pieces,’ said local militia leader Alexei Kosalokin. ‘This was the stuff our ancestors beat the Nazis with and if it was good enough for them, it is good enough for us.’

But… is that really true? The British news don’t really seem to be the most reliable sources of information. Check this out – from this article:

IS3

Holy shit, the Soviets had IS-3 in 1943? No wonder the Germans lost the war! Seriously though – if this description is wrong… what else is wrong? The article has a grain of truth in it though. A few weeks ago, there was a case (and a video) of the separatists using a WW2 era Soviet AT rifle (PTRS was it?) against Ukraine army BMP’s. While this might  sound like a completely silly idea, make no mistake – BMP’s are thin skinned and even a WW2 era AT rifle can actually damage them.

46 thoughts on “Ukraine Armor Chaos”

  1. Its the daily mail, what do you expect? It is the worst excuse for journalism in the United Kingdom. They make stupid accusations with no proof and get away with it because “freedom of the press”. Their whole agenda is to sell as many copies as possible by being as racist and shit slinging as possible. Please disregard most of what is said in the daily mail as being total crap unless you see an article in agreement from somewhere more reputable such as the BBC.

    • daily mail is always a an excellent source of stories to be debunked, if ever short of filler stories for FTR, whenever you cannot be bothered to do any serious writing and research of your own…

      why not try the Sun, at least the page 3 artillery has sexier bombs ?

      • and why no discussion of the real useage of tanks in Ukraine, both by Gov and seperatist forces. At least their you have some “real” news. You trying to muddy the waters as per 3 t64s seen crossing the borders from RU to UKR on sat imagery?

    • Please notice that it says”Built in 1943,retired in 1945,and placed on the pedestal in 1994,the mighty diesel engine….” the subject of this sentence is “diesel engine”instead of the tank

  3. 1) No mentions in google of “Алексей Косалокин / Козалокин” anywhere except linked DailyMail article.
    2) Local news confirm “museum request” to Donetsk mayor Oleksandr Lukyanchenko who states that it is “absurdity”.

          • You know, V12 is easier to start than your small car L4 or even L3… Even that big, it’s a bit counterintuitive :) but true.

            • Mm. By way of partial explanation, and keeping in mind I’m not a professional mechanic or anything…

              There’s a lot of overlap (i.e. at least one piston is still going through its power stroke when the next fires) with that many cylinders, once you get one cylinder to fire and kick the engine over, you don’t need all that many to immediately follow suit to get the engine running free of the starter. Once it’s running under its own power, it’s just a matter of keeping it at high idle and waiting until it’s warmed enough to be running on all cylinders. Assuming, of course, the issue is cold-temperedness (I’d expect a monument tank’s engine to be a bit worse off, at least some moisture trapped in the cylinders).

              On the other hand, an l4 has no firing overlap (i.e. only one piston is going through its power stroke at a time with a short pause between each firing, there’s a certain pulsation to the delivered power as a result), so…two of your cylinders refuse to fire cold, you’re lucky to get it idling (depending on their place in the firing order, but still, that’s a 50% loss). Three down, you’re done. I can personally say that missing just one cylinder makes for a very, very rough idle in an (older, 2.5L) l4.

  5. I’ll just quote Jingles, as I do most of the times, when someone mentions something being written in the Daily Mail:
    “The Dailymail is one of those newspapers, that is not even of any use as toilet paper, because you wipe more shit on, than you wipe off. [...] Everything they say should be treated as a lie unless proven otherwise, because 99% of the time, a lie is exactly what it is.”

  7. If you live in the UK you are aware that the Daily Mail is a comic published to amuse slack minds.

    The Daily Mail can never be relied upon for any assertion it makes, unless that assertion has been verified by two reliable sources.

    Sorry SS, but anything published by the Daily Mail in the UK, is accepted in the UK as comedy to pass the time, and not something to be believed.

  9. A few weeks ago, there was a case (and a video) of the separatists using a WW2 era Soviet AT rifle (PTRS was it?) against Ukraine army BMP’s. While this might sound like a completely silly idea, make no mistake – BMP’s are thin skinned and even a WW2 era AT rifle can actually damage them.

    How were they able to find 60 years old ammo for that thing? O.o
    And how come that ammo is actually in firing condition? o.O
    Most of the old ammo I’ve seen has been eaten by oxidation, unless cleaned regularly.

    • They don’t need to find WW2 ammo.

      The PTRS fires the 14,5×114 mm round, which is a caliber that has been used for a load of soviet (lightly) armored vehicles well into the 80s and 90s (like BTRs). I assume the stockpiles taken over at the beginning of the “resistance” featured crates of ‘factory fresh’ 14,5mm rounds.

    • Depends on how it was stored. If it was stored in sealed containers, yes it has a good chance of working.

  10. Dunno but all this ukraine shit makes me wonder does ukraine even have a capable army? they cant handle a bunch of sorry asses rebels. Sorry but FSA rebels fighting in Syria would mop the floor with ukrainian army and smoke a cigar at the same time. Ukraine army is pathetic.Heck even Bashar Al-Assad can turn Ukraine to dust and make them his slaves if he wants too. I think even somalians are more capable then ukraine army.

    • the Ukranian army isn’t half bad, the only issue is that half of it is on the pro-Russian side, the spin that all the western media puts out about the separatists being entirely comprised of poorly armed militia is complete BS.

    • I am sorry to burst your bubble but some of those ukrainanen rebels arent even ukrainanen but actually russian soldiers or mercenaries. Do you really think that some bunch of simple rebels know how to use high tech weapons to bring down air units and armored units? The truth is that, these so called rebels have highly proffesional and trained soldiers with them and they came from Russia. They are being founded by Russian goverment. If they would be ONLY local rebeles without forgein money behind them they would be already crushed.

      • You maybe right that there are some russians there but even then if most of the rebels have gone through conscription (excuse me if I didn’t word this properly) they probably have people who can use AA and AT weapons/weapon systems.

        Also what Bonesaw said.

      • Maybe thats why there trying to revive old weapons cause obviously there not advanced :P

        though if they used that IS-3 that would just be hilarious.

  11. Don’t confuse the daily hate mail for an actual news source with journalistic integrity. It’s a tabloid comic for aspiring middle class, middle age conservatives who blame immigrants for all the world’s ills. It’s like Fox news on paper.

    Lesson here is don’t read the daily mail and certainly don’t quote it.

    • Yep daily mail is a load of crap and anyone with half a brain wouldn’t even read it.

      • So… UK has a counterpart of our lovely polish “Fakt” “newspaper” (don’t hate the guy for being from the mighty land of Siemkas). Same ammount of total BS in both of them.

  12. Well it doesn’t take that much to penetrate bmp side armor, 7.62 ap can do it.

  14. Realy dont belive thats possible :-) becose every displayed gun/tank armored vehickle…..must be “unarmed” . for example dissable trret traverse or cut the main gun

    • This is what I thought. I was under the impression that anything not locked safely in a military depot or something at least had the gun disabled in some way (breech welded shut or cut off completely, barrel plugged shut, etc). Do they only do this sort of thing under certain circumstances?

  18. lol haha next thing you know is they go to WG and steal the maus (If they build it) and use that :P

  19. Not to self: Don’t use DailyMail as a resource again. At least that’s why i learned from all the comments. I’m sure SS did too.

  22. Never forget that infamous headline from many years ago.

    “BAN THESE EVIL VIDEO GAMES.”

    The mail is the last place you should look for reliable journalism. It’s nearing the level of Russia Today Online and PressTV.