Inside the secret tank repair battalion near Ukraine's front lines
Ukraine's stopgap strategy is simple. Fix what you got and get them back into battle. It takes a lot of work to keep these Soviet-era workhorses of Ukraine's armored divisions in the fight. Do these tanks need a lot of maintenance and repair? They're old. It's no secret, says Roman Batsenko. They need repair and good hand link. And he would know, Batsenko is a gunner with the Ukraine Army's third tank unit known as the Iron Brigade.
His call sign – Lion. Why Lion? I was born in August, he says. I also have a lion tattoo from Before the War. And well, it's my character. Before the war, Lion worked for 15 years for the railway. Now after a year of fighting, tanks are his identity. At this stage of the war, how important are tanks? The tank is primarily needed for the infantry, he says.
Cover, deliver, evacuate the infantry. Tanks are necessary, and the more, the better. Major tank battles with the Russians loom, the location of Ukraine's tanks, even while under repair, top secret. This tank repair facility, we're told, is the closest one to the front lines. And it's busy here. But we can't show you the location or tell you exactly where we are, because they know that this would be a prime Russian target. The coming weeks of the war, while the ground is still frozen, will likely be a game of tanks.
And for Ukraine, a game of waiting for better, faster, safer, Western tanks to arrive. British challengers, German Leopards, and American M1 Abrams. How less safe are the tanks that you're using compared to the ones that are coming from NATO countries? Our tanks are different, Lion says. They were produced in the USSR, and there were problems with safety. Our ammunition is under us. But Lion won't be upgrading to a Leopard. He'll stick to his T-72B, battle-scarred and tested.
We had a fight. Our tank was hit seven times, but we held on, he says, recalling a battle in a village in the Harkiv region a few months ago. But when a mine flew into the engine, the tank caught fire. I pulled the commander and mechanic out of the tank, Lion says. I saved their lives, and we walked back. But before that, I managed to destroy three enemy tanks and several armored vehicles. Such a beautiful story with a beautiful ending, he says.
For his valor, his commander presented him with the Ukrainian Medal of Courage. What's it like to be in a tank battle with the Russians? The battle itself is going on 10, 15 minutes. The main thing is to be focused, trust each other, and then everything will be fine. He also says they need to trust their tank, that it won't break down in a battle. And for that, there's an entire unit of the Iron Brigade devoted to repairs. Olisander Dericka is the commander. We already had this tank under repair.
We sent it a couple days ago, and it broke down again. All right. Dericka allowed me to see for myself. From the driver's seat, how old the controls are, how small the window and how tight the confines. The two other crew members, the gunner and the tank's commander, also work in coffin-like conditions. When you're repairing these tanks, do you feel responsibility for the people who are going to use them? We definitely feel it. We know all of the mechanics, drivers, and crews we serve, Dericka says.
The Russian offensive, is that going to make your job harder, more dangerous? There's always danger. We came here and are working to destroy the Russians to free ourselves from the invaders, Lyon says. This is our job. We protect the motherland. In this war, it's always dangerous. That same day, Lyon already headed back to the front line. Jason Bellini, Scripps News in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
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