Ukrainians counterattack on Izum by throwing backup tanks into battle

By David Ax

The 3rd Armored Brigade of the Ukrainian army has reportedly reached the battlefield around Izium, near Kharkov. This brigade is perhaps the first of Kiev’s reserve armored formations to take part in hostilities.

This is an important development. Several weeks after the withdrawal of its afflicted, hungry forces from northern Ukraine, the Russian army is trying to move its Battalions to the south and east of the country to step up its attacks in the Donbas region, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists. and along the coastline in the Sea of ​​Azov.

But the Ukrainians are also moving. The units that in the first month of the Russian invasion defended Kyiv can now be deployed in other areas. free to grow elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian reserve forces – which had basic shortages of equipment and manpower at the end of February – have gained operational strength and are being promoted at the front.

The 3rd Armored Brigade was formed in 2016, after the union of three Brigades – the 4th, 5th and 14th – as a reserve for the 1st and 14th Brigades. In February and March, the 1st Armored Brigade defended Chernihiv against the Russian forces’ siege of the besieged city.

The Reserve Armored Brigade numbers thousands of soldiers in its ranks and is based in the Khmelnytsky region of western Ukraine. In terms of structure it does not differ from the active units: three Armored Battalions, one Infantry Battalion as well as Air Defense and Artillery Units. Its equipment is different.

The Active Brigades have upgraded T-64 tanks, while the 3rd Brigade and other reserve units have T-72s. The T-72 is a newer build than the T-64, which dates back to the 1960s, but in fact the older chariot is superior: it has more powerful armor, a more efficient engine and a more sophisticated automatic magazine for the 125mm gun.

In the late 1960s, the Soviet Army switched from the T-64 to the cheaper T-72 in order to simplify and maximize production – not because the T-72 was better. It is no coincidence that the Ukrainians equipped their active Brigades with 700 T-64s and kept about 500 T-72 tanks as reserves.

Some T-72s underwent improvements at a plant in Kyiv and were “renamed” the T-72AMT.

Many T-64s were neutralized on the battlefield and Kyiv was forced to mobilize T-72 tanks. At the end of the winter, the commanders of the 3rd Armored Brigade trained its reservists – mainly businessmen, trainers and taxi drivers – on BMP-1 tanks and BM-21 rocket launchers.

In the following weeks, with the Russian invasion in full swing, the Brigade received new equipment: medical supplies in late March and outfits in mid-April.

The Ukrainian Brigade appears to have “met” for the first time with Russian troops on April 2 – or a little earlier – in eastern Ukraine. BMP-1s fired on a Russian T-80 tank unit, destroying four of them and forcing their crews to abandon them.

The base of the T-80 is the T-64. Therefore, the Ukrainians probably repaired the damage suffered by these tanks in order to use them themselves.
In recent days, the 3rd Armored Brigade is probably fighting in the eastern part of the besieged Kharkiv. The aim of the Ukrainian offensive – which has been under way since Sunday – is to encircle Russian forces controlling Izumi and then cut off Russian supply lines crossing Ukraine from the northeast to the south.

Mike Martin, a fellow in the Department of Military Studies at King’s College London, said the Ukrainian attack had a good chance of succeeding. “It seems that the Russians can not defend their supply lines despite the excesses they have shown,” Martin wrote on Twitter.

If the battlefield for Izium is tilted in favor of the Ukrainians, Kyiv will owe this victory to a group of teachers and taxi drivers manning the reserve tanks.

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