In the distance, we could hear the thud of outgoing Ukrainian artillery.
“I think there are some small arms too,” said one of the tank crew we had come to see.
Getting here was a mission in itself – a six-hour drive from Kyiv to the border town of Sumy, then an overnight stay before rendezvousing with an army press officer escorting us in.
We had come to see the 82nd Air Assault Brigade, one of Ukraine’s elite units and one of the forces that punched across the border into Kursk last August.
The 82nd operates the Challenger tanks that the UK donated in January 2023 and used them during last year’s counteroffensive around Zaporizhzhia and inside Kursk.
“Don’t worry, he’s a racing driver,” one of the soldiers told us as we clambered into a well-used 4×4 for the journey forward.
They were referring to Artem, our driver. In a former life he raced karts.
When I tried to put my seatbelt on, he jokingly wagged his finger, as though it was some sort of insult to his driving (it wasn’t, he was fine – but I kept my belt on).
Later we found out why he was on driving duties.
Artem had been one of the crew of a Challenger 2 tank that was destroyed during the first days of the Kursk offensive.
I’d watched the video on social media numerous times – the Challenger hit by a Russian loitering munition.
Artem survived the strike. At least one of his crewmates didn’t.
“Don’t show any of the landscape please,” our handler told us. “The Russians scour these videos for clues to where we are.”
The threat was very real. The area we were heading to had been hit by three Russian glide bombs a few weeks earlier.
Eventually, we stopped in the middle of the woodland. Around us, dug into deep pits, were Ukrainian vehicles. They were so heavily camouflaged it was impossible to tell what they were.
Watch: Video appeared to show a destroyed Challenger 2 tank in Ukraine. It is believed to have been filmed on the southern front in Zaphorizhzhia.
Deeper into the woods we found what we had come for, the giant hulking shape of a Challenger 2 tank.
Draped over it were tarpaulins, camouflage nets and foliage. Only the huge tracks poking out the bottom gave the game away.
Nearby, emerging from the trees, two Challenger crews had been assembled to speak to us. These were men who had seen a lot of combat, they had an air of experience about them.
They seemed in good spirits, but their eyes told a story. These men were clearly very tired.
“He’s a bit tall for a tank,” they joked, pointing at Oleksandr, one of the Challenger commanders. At a good six foot three inches tall I wondered how on earth he fitted inside.
“So how has the Challenger performed?” I asked.
“In the dry season it operates well, but right now when there is mud, when there’s weather like this, it struggles to move around,” he said.
“It’s heavy and I think that if the tracks were a bit different, if they didn’t have pads, it would be a bit easier, not by a lot but it would help.
“The mud gets in between the track pads and because of that it’s more difficult to move, that’s one of the reasons.”
That mud is one of the reasons most Soviet-era tanks, which Ukraine has a lot of, are much lighter.
The T-72 for instance is a lean 41 tonnes, the T-80 about 45. It’s also why the Challenger 2 we saw, and others, are dug in, behind the frontline.
So far, at least two Challengers have been lost in combat in Ukraine. As well as the loss in Kursk, one was destroyed by a Russian anti-tank missile during Kyiv’s ill-fated counter-offensive in Zaporizhzhia last summer.
By using them as mobile artillery the 82nd can exploit the Challenger’s highly accurate 120mm L30 main gun while minimising the risk of losing any more.
After clambering onto the tank’s hull we met two more of the crew, including 34-year-old Stepan, one of the loaders.
He tells me he was trained in the UK and has “huge respect” for his British Army instructors.
“We got in, and after sitting in a Soviet T-80 it’s like a two-room apartment. We were like ‘Wow, how much space!’
“Training in England was great. The instructors were excellent and, in a short time, they made tankies out of us.
“Bearing in mind that training usually takes a long time. To train as a loader, like me, it normally takes two years. But we learned it all in two months.
Sitting beside Stepan was 28-year-old Vasia, another tank commander.
Married with a four-year-old daughter, he said the hardest part of the war was being separated from his family.
“Once a year, they let me go home for 10 days, and that’s it. For me that is the worst thing about the war, that they don’t let you go home, you don’t see your family.”
Russia has now retaken around 40% of the territory it lost in Kursk. Vladimir Putin is said to want the job done before Donald Trump returns as President in January.
For the 82nd Brigade and these tank crews, it’s now all about holding on. If Ukraine is forced to the negotiating table then this small pocket of Russian land would be useful leverage.
Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia now has 50,000 troops in Kursk, including 10,000 North Korean soldiers.
When I ask how they feel about fighting Pyongyang’s forces, I get a wry smile.
“We haven’t even seen them, only through the scope,” Stepan says.
“Bam and that’s it.”
Source: Forces News
