Moment Russian tank unit making ‘opening day mistakes’ as they bunch together in a line is destroyed in ‘textbook’ use of drones and artillery by Ukraine

Stunning videos of a Ukrainian artillery, drone and mine attack on a column of Russian tanks have surfaced from the front lines at Bakhmut, with a retired US general praising Kiev troops for orchestrating what he called a “textbook attack.”

The assault in the countryside near the Donetsk town of Klishchiivka began as Russian armor stumbled past the cover of a tree line into an open field.

Suddenly, explosions rang out as a tank appeared to drive over a mine – a signal that set off a hail of artillery fire and drone strikes on the unsuspecting column.

Incredible drone footage shared by Ukrainian war monitors and open-source intelligence accounts showed the utter chaos and confusion of the Russian tank operators as shells rained down on the field, scoring direct hits on several vehicles.

One tank swerved to the right and broke away from the column, perhaps looking to escape, when the main gun appeared to destroy one of the other hit Russian tanks only a few yards away – a testament to the unit’s panic and likely inexperience.

Ben Hodges, the former commanding general of the US military in Europe, said the Russian column was a perfect target and made “opening day mistakes.”

‘Impressive from UAF. Textbook integration of fires, drones and apparently mines. Russian tanks in column fighting with minimal separation… no evidence of experienced sergeants in this Russian unit,” he joked.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials today released a video showing how their forces had destroyed an advanced Russian S-400 ‘Triumf’ air defense system loaded with missiles.

The video shows a giant explosion in Olenevka, a town on Cape Tarkhankut in Crimea following the attack, which was confirmed by Ukrainian military intelligence agency HUR.

“As a result of the explosion, the installation itself, the missiles and the personnel installed on it were completely destroyed,” said Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko.

Russian sources believe the blast was caused by a Storm Shadow missile delivered to Ukraine by Britain and France.

Russia’s Telegram Military Informant said: “The enemy is publishing footage this morning of an attack on an S-400 air defense system in the Olenevka area of ​​Crimea.

Exactly what was hit is currently unknown, but presumably it was a Storm Shadow cruise missile.

In addition, a Ukrainian reconnaissance UAV hovered unobstructed directly over the air defense system positions and exercised objective control.

Such incidents raise legitimate questions about the quality of air defense coverage in one of Russia’s most ‘missile-prone’ regions.

Some reports indicated that other Russian missile systems were also disabled, including Bastion and Pantsir-S1 systems.

“The Bastion complex is one of the carriers of the Onyx missiles used by the Russians to hit Ukraine,” said adviser to Mariupol Mayor Petr Andryushchenko.

“The Russian S-400 Triumf complex was destroyed in Crimea.”

It comes as Russia and Ukraine traded drone strikes early Wednesday, officials said, with Kiev apparently retargeting Moscow and Kremlin forces launching yet another bombardment of Ukrainian grain stores in what have recently become signature tactics in the nearly 18 months of war.

A three-hour nighttime Russian drone strike in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region sparked a fire at grain facilities on Tuesday night, Oleh Kiper, head of Odesa’s regional military administration, wrote in the messaging app Telegram.

Ukrainian air defense systems downed nine Shahed drones, Kiper said, but added: “Unfortunately, there are hits on production and transshipment complexes.”

Russia targeted Odesa last month, shutting down key parts of the port city’s grain facilities, days after President Vladimir Putin broke Russia’s participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative. A wartime agreement allowed Ukrainian exports to reach many countries threatened with hunger.

Russian officials, meanwhile, claimed to have downed Ukrainian drones in Moscow and the surrounding region early Wednesday, the defense ministry and mayor said.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said a drone struck a building under construction in Moscow City, a prestigious business complex that has been hit by drones twice before. Several windows were smashed in two nearby buildings and the emergency services arrived on the scene.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the drone was electronically blocked. It blamed Ukraine for the attack and said two other drones were shot down by air defense systems in the Moscow region’s Mozhaisk and Khimki areas.

Officials in Kiev, as usual, have neither confirmed nor denied that Ukraine was behind the drone strikes.

According to Russian state media, the airports in Moscow were closed for a short time, but have since reopened.

After months of resisting Russian advances on Ukrainian soil, Kiev forces began striking back at targets across the border earlier this year, attacking Moscow’s military assets behind the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine and launched drones against Moscow.

Kiev is also trying to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin on multiple fronts, launching a counter-offensive at several points along its 900-mile front line, as well as diplomatically getting pledges for more weapons from its Western allies, including F-16s. combat aircraft. .

Meanwhile, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, three people were killed in Russia’s Belgorod region, on the Ukrainian border, after repeated shelling of a sanatorium.

Gladkov said the sanatorium in the village of Lavy, about 40 kilometers from the border, was fired on and that “the enemy dropped two grenades from a drone while people were in the street.”

The Belgorod region has witnessed sporadic fighting and shelling during the war, including a border raid last May that prompted the Kremlin to introduce tighter security measures.