Footage recorded by an infantryman manning a fighting position in the Donetsk region captures the moment a Donetsk People's Republic BTR-82 is disabled by Ukrainian artillery fire. He also captures a nearby tank coming to support the disabled vehicle by pushing it out of the kill zone.

For some reason, there's a lot of claims saying that this video is staged and not real. It's unclear why people would think that outside of their own internal bias, because this is a fairly bog standard operation. The armor maneuvered in front of the entrenched troops to engage with Ukrainian positions and a BTR caught an artillery round. Following that, a nearby tank came to push the BTR out to a safer position so that it could be recovered for use later down the road.

I guess the doubt comes from the fact that the entire engagement was recorded by a member of the DPR sitting in his trench. If you'll note that the armor is oriented and engaging in the direction that the DPR troop's fighting position is facing, then this makes a lot more sense. You're not looking at a static camera recording armor inside of Russia or far from friendly lines. The armor simply pushed out ahead of friendly troops because they weren't able to engage from behind them due to the troops being located inside of a treeline.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com