Unbelievable Video Catches Moment Russian Tank Obliterates Ukrainian Civilian Car
It’s compelling video. What is reported to be a Ukranian civilian automobile drives down a semi-rural road, then comes to a stop, apparently due to the sight of what is described as a Russian tank coming around a curve.
Before the tank even clears the curve, its turret is aimed at the car and it fires two rounds into the hapless vehicle, destroying it and reportedly killing two people inside.
But why would the tank shoot the defenseless car as shown in the video from Yhiah, the Ukranian news agency and posted in the online version of The New York Post?
Is it evidence of a Russian war atrocity? Or a panicked Russian tank team in an increasingly confused fog of war? Or is it convenient Ukrainian war propaganda? Or all of the above?
Truth is said to be the first casualty of war, an old proverb attributed to a lot of people.
Given videos of suffering Ukranian children, in-your-face resistance from Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and dangerous statements from Vladimir Putin in Russia and from U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Lyndsey Graham (R-South Carolina) calling for “first-use nuclear action” (Wicker) or assassination of Putin (Graham), it’s a complex, touchy situation.
That’s especially true given the corruption, incompetence and outright lying on the part of legacy news media. You know, the media that had everyone scared of COVID until the cure was suddenly found with the Russian invasion, higher gas prices and approaching midterm elections.
This we do know: Russia invaded Ukraine. The Ukrainians are putting up a fierce resistance. The sun came up this morning.
Given our media, everything else is speculation.
What’s the context which might explain why a tank would take out somebody’s car?
We could consult The Washington Post — an account it has of the situation in Ukraine makes no mention of critical race theory, white privilege or defunding the police, so it may be safe for us to gain some relevant insights regarding Ukraine from it.
“Evidence is mounting that many Russian soldiers are reluctant to fight,” says Post contributor Jason Lyall. He wrote of social media accounts of Russian soldiers, lost and hungry, who are looting and are begging food.
“Captured soldiers have expressed confusion about the war’s purpose and have surrendered once they discovered they were not on a training exercise.”
Not on a training exercise? Is organization and communication that bad in the Russian army?
Morale issues, according to Lyall, may foster brutality. Maybe that explains the tank attack.
The U.K.’s Independent reported Russian troops were surprised by the intensity of Ukrainian resistance. “We don’t know who to shoot,” one soldier was reported to have been overheard saying on a radio call, “They all look like us.”
Perhaps a well-balanced account comes from the U.K’s TLDR News.
A key problem for Putin’s forces, according to that report, is in logistics. The plan was for Russian military equipment to be shipped into Ukraine by rail, but the Ukrainians destroyed relevant rail links. They also destroyed a key air base to prevent Russian airlifts.
Russian forces tried to use trucks for transport, but they don’t have enough of them, TLDR reported, meaning troops could not go more than 90 miles beyond supply stations.
Russian trucks are poorly maintained, which has caused other problems with logistics. Also, Ukrainians are targeting fuel trucks for destruction, not only robbing Russians of fuel but allowing for resulting intense fires to destroy the roads.
Mud has also bogged down Russian vehicles. Ukranians have further complicated that problem by opening a reservoir to flood the surrounding countryside.
So logistics has been a major contributor to Russian confusion and perhaps morale problems.
Other problems for Putin — besides nearly worldwide condemnation — are increasing protests in Russia, TLDR said. This is despite severe threats of crackdowns.
So what Putin believed would be a simple walk in the park has turned into a serious problem. Logistical problems, Ukrainian resistance, communication failures — it all adds up.
We still don’t know why a tank would shoot a car. Who knows? Maybe the tank crew doesn’t know why either.
It might be the fog of war. And a lack of solid communication — from the battlefield all the way up to the doorstep of legacy media.
At least we know the sun will come up tomorrow.
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