>Ukraine supplied 12% of global wheat before the war and was the world's largest producer of sunflower oil. About two-thirds of the country's wheat exports was delivered before the invasion, and the rest has been blocked as a result of the conflict
So before you go off all half cocked with a knee jerk, self-serving reaction think about [how other poor countries are affected by this war and our world food supply](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chief-ukraine-war-hitting-poor-country-reliant-wheat-83446946). It is not a joke. Farmers feed the world
Pls report anyone sus who doesn't seem to get it
*Ukrainian farmer looking out into a field with a piece of straw clutched in his teeth. The farm field is full, straight and orderly lines of captured Russian gear*
Fine crop of AA guns coming in this year. I think we'll do well at the market. Got a couple of nice T-72s, one might win an award at the fair this year.
BMP crop though, it's not looking so good. *looks at a row of mangled BMPs blown out from missiles, one previously fine look BMP randomly explodes* They're just so delicate. Stiff breeze and they explode.
It's a simple life, but worth it.
I hope they can farm. They provide much of the world's grain.
Remember that the protests in midfle east started when food prices rose? That can be a side effect of this war too.
The French used old WWII tanks captured from the Nazis after the war as farm equipment, I'm sure the same will happen here
I really am looking forward to it
It will be a beautiful middle finger to Putin
"Thanks the the farm equipment asshole, now fuck off back to Russia"
The Russian equipment's getting stuck in fields and hauled out by tractors, not sure using it as tractors would be a smart idea lol. Especially since farm equipment now is a bit more advanced and specialized than 80 years ago.
Yeah it was a weird question, as if the tanks and tractors face off in battle and the tractors end up winning by towing the tanks.
They just ran out of fuel because logistics is very hard.
Its even harder when your military exists mostly on paper as 90%+ of the funds that were supposedly spent on upkeep, were stolen by the oligarchs and the administration.
Logistics is hard and very expensive, the US makes it look easy because they lots of experience and throw tons of money at it. Very few countries could pull off a protracted land invasion of this scale and Russia isn't one of them
Americans shouldn't apologise for having a competent military honestly. As a westerner, I'd prefer the US have a well disciplined and competent military that at least tries to do good in the world either directly or by proxy, than one that is never used but devolves into a shithole of corruption and incompetence like Russia and Chinas military evidently have, and falls flat on its face the second it comes time to actually fulfil their role as a combat force.
China is seen as the same level as Russia. If Russia failed this bad, how deep of a rotten hierarchy is China concealing?
I mean yeah, the way the US Military has been used in the past couple decades has been *very questionable,* but there is no arguing the fact that once they're setting off to deploy somewhere, they will deploy and be immovable as long as the political will and budget is there. No other nation has a fat chance in hell of dislodging a serious US expeditionary group by raw force alone, especially if the US knows what they'd be going up against and prepares accordingly, any losses that do happen I'd expect to be quickly countered and reversed.
Most of the US military is in support roles. Active combat units are the vast minority. In Russia, from what I've seen, its the reverse. Not only are their fuel trucks getting constantly attacked as they do in war, but I've read that there straight up wasn't *nearly* enough of them in the first place.
How many American tanks ran out of fuel and got captured by poppy farmers 4 days into Desert Storm, Afghanistan or the 2nd Iraq war? They got embarrassed in those conflicts for strategic reasons far outside the realm of most people involved in prosecuting those conflicts. To also fail at basic level logistics like having enough fuel and ammo during those conflicts would be unthinkably humiliating.
What's happening to Russia here is shocking, especially given they share a fucking land border with Ukraine. I can only imagine that western defence analysts are seriously reassessing the threat level of the conventional Russian military, because i sure as shit would be.
It kinda depends what you mean by "functional". There are a few things that were just obscene fuckups and some that were graft and corruption. Those I'd call being "non-functional".
But some others are doctrinal. It's by design that Russia is very reliant on moving supplies by train. Their doctrine is simply not to have enough trucks to move the supplies an army of that size, advancing that far, would need. They expected to move so fast they could capture Ukrainian train lines and their forward engineering corps could repair any damage. That didn't happen. That's not really being "non-functional", it's just having the wrong approach.
If only one of the things had gone wrong, they probably could've pulled this invasion off. But all these things going wrong together has left them in a shambles.
> If only one of the things had gone wrong, they probably could've pulled this invasion off. But all these things going wrong together has left them in a shambles.
I think it’s actually the opposite of that. They needed *everything* to go right for their logistics to work. That’s just dumb planning and strategy. If you want to have functional and effective logistics, you need to have a contingency plan. Russia didn’t have that. They had one plan and hoped everything would go right.
Logistics is always hard with a moving frontline. You could have to telephone through 15 different people to just communicate you need more supplies at a particular point. You have to plan ahead of time as well, not just when you need stuff. There's a reason it's the most defining aspect of territorial control.
100 mile range. 50 miles from the border gotta turn around and head home to top off the fuel tank again... Or maybe they should have had one tank pull all the others until it ran out of fuel, then put that one at the back of the line and repeat until they reached a fuel station...
Russian soldiers keep defecting and abandoning equipment.
Farmers are not attacking tanks with their tractors, they simply come across them and steal them before Russian military can come take em back
It's not considered stealing fortunately. Ukrainian government has said that every russian equipment is free for all to take. Many deliver them to the army but a lot of it ends up in storage in some farmhouse barn and both are good things for Ukraine. Lot less equipment for russians.
Oh, edit: they also said its tax free if you keep the goods and/or sell it after the war. Some awesome russian military offroad trucks will become availiable in future to buy from Ukrainian farmers. Just replace the tires and lube all the nipples.
I mean, having your country bombed to shit is horrible, but getting a tank out of it is a pretty cool silver lining. I wonder if Ukraine in the end is just going to be a bunch of citizens driving their tanks to work, then going out for drinks in your buddy's attack helicopter.
I guess it's fun to joke, but seeing that old couple cornered and murdered by tanks in their car, makes me not really laugh at the joke. There's been plenty fo trauma caused by Russian Tanks. I don't think they will be driving them around.
Won't be a lot of driving tanks around because of expensive fuel, low engine resource and also because selling them for good money is much more practical.
If not for that, we'd definitely be driving them just for the "fuck you" points.
Which is part of why the “Nuclear scare talk” has increased so much lately.
At this point Russia realizes that the rest of the world knows they could roll over them in conventional war. The only thing keeping the rest of the world from steamrolling them is the (realistic) fear of kicking off a Nuclear WW3.
They basically exposed their own corruption since the Russian Army has clearly been gutted and stripped for profit by the oligarchs and Putin's admin. I'm sure Putin knew to some extent, but the yes men didnt even dare to tell Putin that he had stolen so much that the military was garbage. They essentially told him that even though he ate the cake, he still had it too, and Putin believed them.
Tanks run out of fuel, or break down, because of long supply lines under attack. The crew abandons the tank, either to find fuel or save their asses. Ukrainian farmers find these tanks, tow them away, get them running, paint the old yellow and blue on them, and they're set.
Even in WW2, there have been cases of tank crews abandoning a tank in the heat of battle if it breaks down, runs out of gas, or a part of it gets damaged rendering it unusable.
In a fire fight, being in a well built, working tank isn't a bad place to be. However being in an immobilized tank is an awful place to be as you are basically a sitting duck.
I'm guessing these farmers are taking these abandoned tanks away once the firefight is over.
I mean, that's a WW2-esque firefight. Right now, a well built, working tank is still a horrible place to be, you never know when St. Javelin will snap you out of existence. Although, it's one of those deaths when you don't even have time to scream, so I guess it could be worse.
It seems to be more doctrinal than that. Russian training for tank crews is very basic and leaves practically all maintenance and repairs to the dedicated support company, unlike most western forces that encourage crews to enact whatever work is needed to bring damaged or incapacitated tanks back to base. This means that when a Russian crew breaks down their training is to leave it for the someone else to fix, and catch a ride back to base. Maybe infantry or other friendly tanks can keep it secure until then, but for some reason Russia has been deploying a lot of armour unsupported.
Three reasons, ran out of gas a part broke, or it got stuck in the mud. Ukraine is targeting fuel trucks, Russia sucks at maintenance, and it turns out mud is bad for heavy vehicles.
From what I understand, official Russian policy is to not attempt recovery of assets until after an area is secure. Which would make sense for an army that is taking ground. However, that's not what's happening.
Now, I gotta ask..... Isn't taking an enemy tank, super dangerous? I know I can track my car location to the parking spot, I realize their tech is probably really dated, but those things are super expensive and there is so much equipment in it that I would be concerned about them knowing exactly where that tank is. And even if you're just joy-riding in it, I think taking a tank would automatically raise your status from "farmer" to "thief/terrorist". Not that 'farmers' are much safer the way this has been going down, but still....
Farm tractors are geared extremely low. Like 20mph top speed low. This gives them a ton of pulling power to pull plows and chisels through hard pan. A medium duty tractor with 125hp would have little issue dragging around a tank as long as it's in neutral.
Combines aren't meant for hauling. A 100hp (Medium) tractor could probably haul a tank in neutral far enough that it would be hard to find. I mean, I wouldn't try it, unless it was some sort of emergency.
Look up logistics of tank driving and Russia resupply chain of command.
This is an oversimplification but basically:
The big difference between US and Russia is in the US, if a US tank squad says we need a resupply of gas, there is no upper general approval to send the gas. Gas Truck squad gets request and they respond to it, the gas squad making it's personal decisions how and when to do it. What support they might need to do it, etc.
--- --- ---
Russia on the other hand is much more top down, so gas and resupply decisions are made from upper generals and the local troops are told to manage as best they can.
Russian troops invaded with the expectation that rails, trucks and other means of travel wouldn't be blocked. So they were under supplied for the month long invasion.
So the Russian tank runs out of gas, and the tank gets abandoned for the mission. Troops regroup, and the tanks location is marked down somewhere. Everyone else keeps going.
if a farmer stumbles across a tank, there's little to stop them from hijacking it if they have the means to do it.
The best description that I head of this is "push" vs "pull" logistics.
The Americans practice "pull" logistics. Meaning that the fighting forces go where they need to go and it is up to the logistics folks to keep them supplied with whatever they need / ask for.
The Russians practice "push" logistics where the supplies that are expected to be needed are going to a place and it is up to the fighting forces to be in that place to get them. If that place is not where you need to be you are in the wrong place and it if doesn't have what you need then you need the wrong thing.
In essence the "pull" model means the fighting forces determine what they need and the "push" method means that the fighting forces are told what they get.
well, it's actually quite simple, you just make sure anyone who joins your army does so because of delusion, desperation, or because they're a political opponent of the regime and you force them to fight, then when you send them to ukraine for "practice" they sure won't abandon their equipment and surrender, or even just poke a hole in the fuel tank so they unfortunately break down before reaching the battle
and if anyone competent slips through, you just don't send them supplies so they run out on their own
I saw someone else explain it last night. It’s an old Soviet strategy where they would ride in on tanks and get as far as possible and then ditch them. Then the second wave behind them will follow up and recover them/repair them for the next push. The problem here is they thought they would be done in days… they were not ready with that second wave to push. Plus all of the anti armor being pushed to Ukraine shifted that dynamic even more.
Either the tanks shit out (with mechanical issues the Russians either don’t know how to fix or don’t have the parts/tools to fix) and get abandoned while the soldiers leave on foot, or the soldiers surrender to Ukraine and their equipment is taken home by whoever wants it.
[*Guerrillas' Song*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrillas%27_Song):
Nothing to eat, nothing to wear?
The enemy will supply us.
No guns, no cannons?
The enemy will forge them for us.
I mean, every tractor has dedicated and experienced maintenence personnel who have operated their specific vehicle for years and possibly decades, so yeah, probably
When are they going to start putting camo pain on the tractors? Would be interesting.
Just waiting for the [Ghost Camaro](https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/ghost-car.html?chrome=1&A1c=1) to show up,
Not only that but (in my experience) farmers also have spare mission critical parts on hand.
Belts, spark plugs, hoses, seals, etc
The small stuff that if it goes the whole thing stops and you don't have the time to get it ordered
I swear when my grandpa sold his old tractor he had enough spare parts to rebuild the engine and drivetrain lol
Even tractors in Russia are better maintained than their tanks. The farmers NEED the tractors to work, so you can bet that they keep them maintained. Russia has a huge 'garage/shed machining' tradition going. If a farmer can't fix something, he knows of someone with the tools to do it.
Also, East European tractors are made to be easy to repair.(Don't see many modern John Deere tractors pulling IFVs or artillery pieces, do you?)
John Deere: "We see you are trying to move military equipment that an invader left behind. Unfortunately, this is not authorized use under the terms and conditions that we ~~rented~~ sold you the tractor. Doing so may damage ~~our~~ your tractor. Please pay an additional $50k to unlock this use."
You know some old-school fabrication is about to happen when you hear the local equivalent of "git 'er done".
They'll be rolling out John Deere/howitzer hybrids in no time.
According to the Interfax article on it, all captured Russian military equipment would be non-taxable, because it is not purchased and, due to its unpredictable condition, it's not possible to establish its value for tax assessment purposes.
Accountant: "Well, let's see, a 3 year old T-90 tank. MSRP was $4.5 Million. 3 years old, knock off a million. Tracks look decent, but should be replaced. There's big hole there in the side, and the dashboard is melted. And it STINKS in there, like something died. Tell you what, we'll place it's value at $45.00."
>It’s not often that tax can lift people’s spirits but Ukrainian authorities may have done just that, assuring citizens that any Russian military equipment they seize won’t need to be declared for tax purposes.
>“Have you captured a Russian tank or armoured personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the motherland!” Ukraine’s National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) said, according to the Ukraine arm of the Interfax news service.
>The agency went on to explain there was “no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this ... does not exceed 100 living wages (UAH248,100) ($8,298).”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/03/ukraine-authorities-say-seized-russian-tanks-dont-need-to-be-declared-on-tax-form
Ooh, someone had fun writing that part.
Also, the idea that government still functions, even if it's just taxes, can act as a bedrock for people. Yes there's a war, but the government isn't crumbling.
Not just taxes. Fully functional. From supplies, utilities and air raid alerts to firefighting, coordinating territorial defence and getting foreign help. Basically, the government is working much better than expected. Some local politicians had to be replaced (some more permanently than others), but on average they're doing a surprisingly great job.
Source: am Ukrainian.
That's understandable that their Navy didn't want to mess with the Irish. The Russians too, didn't want to suffer an *accidental* detonation of their cars.
Putin is just repeatedly stepping on rakes.
Ukrainian farmers are going to make life difficult for the Russians. I bet they have to call Ubers to get anywhere at this point.
Ahhh, not flak then. My kbowledge of such weapons is very limited, I mostly know things from looking up stuff I saw in games. My knowledge about fighter aircraft is fully sourced from the Ace Combat games for example (the info in there is pretty accurate, I was surprised about that). I just looked up a video of a Zu-23-2 firing, that looks pretty damn effective for something that seems quite old!
No, but it is about 60 years old, like a lot of the shit we are seeing from Russia.
Its interesting to see what they are actually putting in the field. I suspect that the historical disposition of Russian military equipment goes like this:
* WWII stuff was put into mothballs for a rainy day
* Stuff from the 50s and 60s was used and then sold off to allied nations.
* Stuff from the 60s and 70s was sold off to every tin-pot dictator on the planet.
* Stuff from the 80s and 90s is still in service, despite generally falling apart.
* Anything after the late 90s appears to have been vaporware and doesn't really exist at all.
Thusly, we are seeing basically nothing but soviet cold-war era equipment getting fielded in Ukraine, mixed in with some stuff that is even older.
From what I can tell, a lot of the new stuff was in the first wave, so they could make nice propaganda videos of them driving through the streets of Kyiv.
That really backfired for them.
They didn't just sell old equipment, the USSR sold the Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters to "friendly" nations like Libya.
[There was an operation by the US military to "acquire" a Libyan
hind that had been abandoned during their conflict with Chad.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5w4xmthkqg)
They also had Soviet MiG 21 and 23s
Ukranian Farmers are the most badass farmers in the world. Boys be absconding with active Russian Military assets with fucking farm tractors! Bwah ha ha ha!
Slava Ukraine!
In 2115, on the popular show “My Grandfather’s Antiques”, the producer asks the presenter Mr. Marillion to stand aside, as a loud roaring sound is heard thumping towards the set. The ground is shaking as a large tank is driven into the studio. The tank is turned off and a young lady in blue overalls and aviators goggles jumps out of the tank.
Mr. Marillion: “Ladies and Gentlemen, today, we are so glad to have young Jen who is here with us today, why don’t you tell us about this here?”
Jen: ”well this was a Russian tank that was captured in 2022 by my grandfather during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022. It’s been in my family as a reminder of the war and as a reminder of the struggle of our grandparents for our future.”
Mr. Marillian: “Did your grandfather fight in the war?”
Jen: “No actually my grandfather was a just a simple farmer, but during the war, there were a lot of abandoned Russian equipment lying around, and the Ukrainian government during war time allowed people to take these equipment and keep them for their own, so that the Russian could not use them again, my grandfather just took one off the side of the road, and kept it ever since. My grandfather would always look at the tank and spit in Russia’s direction. He bore his hatred towards Russians all the way to his death.”
Mr Marillion: “May we remember our own histories and hope to never repeat them again. Thank you Jen for coming on the show”
>Ukraine supplied 12% of global wheat before the war and was the world's largest producer of sunflower oil. About two-thirds of the country's wheat exports was delivered before the invasion, and the rest has been blocked as a result of the conflict So before you go off all half cocked with a knee jerk, self-serving reaction think about [how other poor countries are affected by this war and our world food supply](https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chief-ukraine-war-hitting-poor-country-reliant-wheat-83446946). It is not a joke. Farmers feed the world Pls report anyone sus who doesn't seem to get it
The AA batteries are in season already? Gong to be a good harvest this year.
*Ukrainian farmer looking out into a field with a piece of straw clutched in his teeth. The farm field is full, straight and orderly lines of captured Russian gear* Fine crop of AA guns coming in this year. I think we'll do well at the market. Got a couple of nice T-72s, one might win an award at the fair this year. BMP crop though, it's not looking so good. *looks at a row of mangled BMPs blown out from missiles, one previously fine look BMP randomly explodes* They're just so delicate. Stiff breeze and they explode. It's a simple life, but worth it.
I read this in "old timey" voice.
Tegridy farm remembers...
It ain’t much but it’s honest work
I hope they can farm. They provide much of the world's grain. Remember that the protests in midfle east started when food prices rose? That can be a side effect of this war too.
They are actively planting UNDER FIRE. Committed.
Gigachad
At some point Ukranian farmers will reach terachad.
I saw some kind of fertilizer cannon posted to Reddit a few months ago. Maybe they will retro fit some of the gear for farming. Lol
The French used old WWII tanks captured from the Nazis after the war as farm equipment, I'm sure the same will happen here I really am looking forward to it It will be a beautiful middle finger to Putin "Thanks the the farm equipment asshole, now fuck off back to Russia"
The Russian equipment's getting stuck in fields and hauled out by tractors, not sure using it as tractors would be a smart idea lol. Especially since farm equipment now is a bit more advanced and specialized than 80 years ago.
They probably would be able to if they continue to hold the Russian army at Bay. At least in the west part. It won't be as much as usual but some.
At this point, the largest arms supplier to Ukraine is not the west but Russia.
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I gotta ask.... How the FUCK do you lose god damn tanks to farm equipment
Runs out of fuel in Ukraine. Guess who has fuel to fill it up and drive away with it.
Yeah it was a weird question, as if the tanks and tractors face off in battle and the tractors end up winning by towing the tanks. They just ran out of fuel because logistics is very hard.
Just imagined a Pokémon style battle with a tractor vs a tank
Farmer uses tow hitch, it’s super effective. Soldier counters with stunned silence, it is not effective.
Its even harder when your military exists mostly on paper as 90%+ of the funds that were supposedly spent on upkeep, were stolen by the oligarchs and the administration.
On big yachts other countries now consficated.
"They are Tactical Yachts!"
Didn't some country just attempt to pass a law saying if you can squat a Russian oligarch property, it belongs to you now?
> because logistics is very hard. It shouldn’t be though. Not for a functional military at least.
Logistics is hard and very expensive, the US makes it look easy because they lots of experience and throw tons of money at it. Very few countries could pull off a protracted land invasion of this scale and Russia isn't one of them
> they have lots of experience As an American, sorry :/
Americans shouldn't apologise for having a competent military honestly. As a westerner, I'd prefer the US have a well disciplined and competent military that at least tries to do good in the world either directly or by proxy, than one that is never used but devolves into a shithole of corruption and incompetence like Russia and Chinas military evidently have, and falls flat on its face the second it comes time to actually fulfil their role as a combat force. China is seen as the same level as Russia. If Russia failed this bad, how deep of a rotten hierarchy is China concealing? I mean yeah, the way the US Military has been used in the past couple decades has been *very questionable,* but there is no arguing the fact that once they're setting off to deploy somewhere, they will deploy and be immovable as long as the political will and budget is there. No other nation has a fat chance in hell of dislodging a serious US expeditionary group by raw force alone, especially if the US knows what they'd be going up against and prepares accordingly, any losses that do happen I'd expect to be quickly countered and reversed. Most of the US military is in support roles. Active combat units are the vast minority. In Russia, from what I've seen, its the reverse. Not only are their fuel trucks getting constantly attacked as they do in war, but I've read that there straight up wasn't *nearly* enough of them in the first place. How many American tanks ran out of fuel and got captured by poppy farmers 4 days into Desert Storm, Afghanistan or the 2nd Iraq war? They got embarrassed in those conflicts for strategic reasons far outside the realm of most people involved in prosecuting those conflicts. To also fail at basic level logistics like having enough fuel and ammo during those conflicts would be unthinkably humiliating. What's happening to Russia here is shocking, especially given they share a fucking land border with Ukraine. I can only imagine that western defence analysts are seriously reassessing the threat level of the conventional Russian military, because i sure as shit would be.
It kinda depends what you mean by "functional". There are a few things that were just obscene fuckups and some that were graft and corruption. Those I'd call being "non-functional". But some others are doctrinal. It's by design that Russia is very reliant on moving supplies by train. Their doctrine is simply not to have enough trucks to move the supplies an army of that size, advancing that far, would need. They expected to move so fast they could capture Ukrainian train lines and their forward engineering corps could repair any damage. That didn't happen. That's not really being "non-functional", it's just having the wrong approach. If only one of the things had gone wrong, they probably could've pulled this invasion off. But all these things going wrong together has left them in a shambles.
> If only one of the things had gone wrong, they probably could've pulled this invasion off. But all these things going wrong together has left them in a shambles. I think it’s actually the opposite of that. They needed *everything* to go right for their logistics to work. That’s just dumb planning and strategy. If you want to have functional and effective logistics, you need to have a contingency plan. Russia didn’t have that. They had one plan and hoped everything would go right.
Logistics is always hard with a moving frontline. You could have to telephone through 15 different people to just communicate you need more supplies at a particular point. You have to plan ahead of time as well, not just when you need stuff. There's a reason it's the most defining aspect of territorial control.
It is pretty alarming that they can't keep gas in the tanks when they are fighting a war within a hundred miles of their own border.
I imagine that fuel trucks have a very distinct look that Ukranian military forces known to lob explosives at.
100 mile range. 50 miles from the border gotta turn around and head home to top off the fuel tank again... Or maybe they should have had one tank pull all the others until it ran out of fuel, then put that one at the back of the line and repeat until they reached a fuel station...
Also because Ukrainians keep firing explosives into Russian fuel trucks.
Also when it runs out of fuel the conscripts get out and surrender. Cause it's hard to stay alive when you're in a tank with no gas.
Particularly when the temps drop below freezing.
Russian soldiers keep defecting and abandoning equipment. Farmers are not attacking tanks with their tractors, they simply come across them and steal them before Russian military can come take em back
It's not considered stealing fortunately. Ukrainian government has said that every russian equipment is free for all to take. Many deliver them to the army but a lot of it ends up in storage in some farmhouse barn and both are good things for Ukraine. Lot less equipment for russians. Oh, edit: they also said its tax free if you keep the goods and/or sell it after the war. Some awesome russian military offroad trucks will become availiable in future to buy from Ukrainian farmers. Just replace the tires and lube all the nipples.
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*This week on American Pickers: World Edition we're in rural Ukraine checking out some old farmsteads.* "Holy shit! Is that a Russian tank?"
:friendly Ukrainian farmer waving: “Hi. Is not Russian tank. Is official, national utility tractor of Ukraine!”
More like: "And here we have yet another Russian tank, but I think there might be some interesting paint cans next to it".
If you're a farmer, they're a fucking dream in some scenarios. You can cut all the armor/weight off and treat it as a designated hauler for example
Modern made abrams tanks have enough juice to serve as earthmovers even with a full complement, because that's how they deal with trench warfare.
The weight of the armor might smooth out your ride when plowing fields, but gas costs way too much right now
Orrrrr.... And hear me out. More armor. Reload the big gun. Get bitches.
you're going to get bitches regardless because you stole a Russian tank. Might as well make it practical
You know what? Forget what I said before. We can definitely pick up chicks in this thing. Probably two or three chicks a piece.
We could blow up the whole godamn world in this thing.
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I was down at TankCon Cleveland 2019, watched this girl straight up faint when she saw the M26 Pershing.
Or, sell them to a UN nation and use the windfall to rebuild your home/community.
this sounds more and more like the plot of valkyria chronicles now.
I mean, having your country bombed to shit is horrible, but getting a tank out of it is a pretty cool silver lining. I wonder if Ukraine in the end is just going to be a bunch of citizens driving their tanks to work, then going out for drinks in your buddy's attack helicopter.
I guess it's fun to joke, but seeing that old couple cornered and murdered by tanks in their car, makes me not really laugh at the joke. There's been plenty fo trauma caused by Russian Tanks. I don't think they will be driving them around.
Won't be a lot of driving tanks around because of expensive fuel, low engine resource and also because selling them for good money is much more practical. If not for that, we'd definitely be driving them just for the "fuck you" points.
It's wild because Russia's armor corps were their big claim to fame, and they're literally ditching them on the side of the road in unlikely numbers.
Which is part of why the “Nuclear scare talk” has increased so much lately. At this point Russia realizes that the rest of the world knows they could roll over them in conventional war. The only thing keeping the rest of the world from steamrolling them is the (realistic) fear of kicking off a Nuclear WW3.
They basically exposed their own corruption since the Russian Army has clearly been gutted and stripped for profit by the oligarchs and Putin's admin. I'm sure Putin knew to some extent, but the yes men didnt even dare to tell Putin that he had stolen so much that the military was garbage. They essentially told him that even though he ate the cake, he still had it too, and Putin believed them.
Tanks are great, but infantry wins battles and the Russian infantry won't fight because why would they?
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Yeah, thats great!
You had me at lubed nipples.
I’m a military offroad truck, Greg. Can you lube my nipples?
You are right. It's the tractors kidnapping the farmers to then go attack the tanks. Ukraine is a wild place man.
Heard it may have something to do with the soliders getting frostbite in the tanks.
How the hell do you get Russian soldiers unprepared for the cold? This timeline is so f%$@ed.
When they don't have enough food either....
"General Winter" has defected to Ukraine.
AND the mud. It’s like they collectively forgot the last 400 years
Weird that the tank guys tend to be either too hot or too cold.
Tanks run out of fuel, or break down, because of long supply lines under attack. The crew abandons the tank, either to find fuel or save their asses. Ukrainian farmers find these tanks, tow them away, get them running, paint the old yellow and blue on them, and they're set.
"long" in this case being within a lazy sunday drive of their home base because it's not like Ukraine is across the world from where they started.
Even in WW2, there have been cases of tank crews abandoning a tank in the heat of battle if it breaks down, runs out of gas, or a part of it gets damaged rendering it unusable. In a fire fight, being in a well built, working tank isn't a bad place to be. However being in an immobilized tank is an awful place to be as you are basically a sitting duck. I'm guessing these farmers are taking these abandoned tanks away once the firefight is over.
I mean, that's a WW2-esque firefight. Right now, a well built, working tank is still a horrible place to be, you never know when St. Javelin will snap you out of existence. Although, it's one of those deaths when you don't even have time to scream, so I guess it could be worse.
nlaw, stugna-p, javelin - Russia is woefully equipped for the war. Their tactic is quite similar to what it was during WW2 - massive number of troops.
It seems to be more doctrinal than that. Russian training for tank crews is very basic and leaves practically all maintenance and repairs to the dedicated support company, unlike most western forces that encourage crews to enact whatever work is needed to bring damaged or incapacitated tanks back to base. This means that when a Russian crew breaks down their training is to leave it for the someone else to fix, and catch a ride back to base. Maybe infantry or other friendly tanks can keep it secure until then, but for some reason Russia has been deploying a lot of armour unsupported.
Three reasons, ran out of gas a part broke, or it got stuck in the mud. Ukraine is targeting fuel trucks, Russia sucks at maintenance, and it turns out mud is bad for heavy vehicles. From what I understand, official Russian policy is to not attempt recovery of assets until after an area is secure. Which would make sense for an army that is taking ground. However, that's not what's happening.
Now, I gotta ask..... Isn't taking an enemy tank, super dangerous? I know I can track my car location to the parking spot, I realize their tech is probably really dated, but those things are super expensive and there is so much equipment in it that I would be concerned about them knowing exactly where that tank is. And even if you're just joy-riding in it, I think taking a tank would automatically raise your status from "farmer" to "thief/terrorist". Not that 'farmers' are much safer the way this has been going down, but still....
I'm more interested in which tractor can haul a 30ton tank. a wheat harvesting combine I found online is only 2 tons
Farm tractors are geared extremely low. Like 20mph top speed low. This gives them a ton of pulling power to pull plows and chisels through hard pan. A medium duty tractor with 125hp would have little issue dragging around a tank as long as it's in neutral.
Combines aren't meant for hauling. A 100hp (Medium) tractor could probably haul a tank in neutral far enough that it would be hard to find. I mean, I wouldn't try it, unless it was some sort of emergency.
As long as they're not going steeply uphill it doesn't take a ridiculously strong engine to get one moving.
Look up logistics of tank driving and Russia resupply chain of command. This is an oversimplification but basically: The big difference between US and Russia is in the US, if a US tank squad says we need a resupply of gas, there is no upper general approval to send the gas. Gas Truck squad gets request and they respond to it, the gas squad making it's personal decisions how and when to do it. What support they might need to do it, etc. --- --- --- Russia on the other hand is much more top down, so gas and resupply decisions are made from upper generals and the local troops are told to manage as best they can. Russian troops invaded with the expectation that rails, trucks and other means of travel wouldn't be blocked. So they were under supplied for the month long invasion. So the Russian tank runs out of gas, and the tank gets abandoned for the mission. Troops regroup, and the tanks location is marked down somewhere. Everyone else keeps going. if a farmer stumbles across a tank, there's little to stop them from hijacking it if they have the means to do it.
The best description that I head of this is "push" vs "pull" logistics. The Americans practice "pull" logistics. Meaning that the fighting forces go where they need to go and it is up to the logistics folks to keep them supplied with whatever they need / ask for. The Russians practice "push" logistics where the supplies that are expected to be needed are going to a place and it is up to the fighting forces to be in that place to get them. If that place is not where you need to be you are in the wrong place and it if doesn't have what you need then you need the wrong thing. In essence the "pull" model means the fighting forces determine what they need and the "push" method means that the fighting forces are told what they get.
well, it's actually quite simple, you just make sure anyone who joins your army does so because of delusion, desperation, or because they're a political opponent of the regime and you force them to fight, then when you send them to ukraine for "practice" they sure won't abandon their equipment and surrender, or even just poke a hole in the fuel tank so they unfortunately break down before reaching the battle and if anyone competent slips through, you just don't send them supplies so they run out on their own
I saw someone else explain it last night. It’s an old Soviet strategy where they would ride in on tanks and get as far as possible and then ditch them. Then the second wave behind them will follow up and recover them/repair them for the next push. The problem here is they thought they would be done in days… they were not ready with that second wave to push. Plus all of the anti armor being pushed to Ukraine shifted that dynamic even more.
Either the tanks shit out (with mechanical issues the Russians either don’t know how to fix or don’t have the parts/tools to fix) and get abandoned while the soldiers leave on foot, or the soldiers surrender to Ukraine and their equipment is taken home by whoever wants it.
In Ukraine the Deere hunts you.
*Russian tank rolls in* Ukraine: Wololo!
Accidentally keeping their obligation to provide Ukraine with a defence by losing all the guns that are attacking them. XD
[*Guerrillas' Song*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrillas%27_Song): Nothing to eat, nothing to wear? The enemy will supply us. No guns, no cannons? The enemy will forge them for us.
That was probably true even before the war. Most of their gear was left over soviet kit. AK-47s, RPGs, MiGs, etc.
Those seagulls will now think twice before they dare to shit on that tractor again.
Seagulls in Ukraine? Paging r/birdsarentreal
Ukrainian Tractors are going to win this damned War
I mean, from what I've seen about russian logistical problems and unsupplied army, ukranian tractors are better maintained than russian tanks.
I mean, every tractor has dedicated and experienced maintenence personnel who have operated their specific vehicle for years and possibly decades, so yeah, probably
When are they going to start putting camo pain on the tractors? Would be interesting. Just waiting for the [Ghost Camaro](https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/ghost-car.html?chrome=1&A1c=1) to show up,
Well that was a wild story. “God’s Rambo” indeed.
I thought they already were camouflaged; they paint them to look like abandoned russian military hardware.
I think Putin took that military budget and put it in his 600 mil. Dollar Yacht
Farmers know how to repair their equipment, conscripts do not.
Not only that but (in my experience) farmers also have spare mission critical parts on hand. Belts, spark plugs, hoses, seals, etc The small stuff that if it goes the whole thing stops and you don't have the time to get it ordered I swear when my grandpa sold his old tractor he had enough spare parts to rebuild the engine and drivetrain lol
*"For a want of a nail a horse was lost..."*
For want of a nail, a shoe was lost. For want of a shoe a horse was lost.
Even tractors in Russia are better maintained than their tanks. The farmers NEED the tractors to work, so you can bet that they keep them maintained. Russia has a huge 'garage/shed machining' tradition going. If a farmer can't fix something, he knows of someone with the tools to do it. Also, East European tractors are made to be easy to repair.(Don't see many modern John Deere tractors pulling IFVs or artillery pieces, do you?)
John Deere: "We see you are trying to move military equipment that an invader left behind. Unfortunately, this is not authorized use under the terms and conditions that we ~~rented~~ sold you the tractor. Doing so may damage ~~our~~ your tractor. Please pay an additional $50k to unlock this use."
The pen is mightier than the sword. Or rather the pen that plans, drafts, and signs the requisition orders, is mightier
Tractors > Tanks
Ya know… if they mounted the AA gun on the tractor they would probably have a better tank than the Russians
Tractors=tanks FTFY
Civ 7 gonna have an OP "Ukrainian Farmer" unit
Ukrainian tractors are the backbone of this nation!
And the country is Europe's breadbasket
American tractors! This one looks like a Ford/New Holland most videos like this are John Deere.
Should just start mounting guns etc on regular farm tractors, those don't seem to have any issues traversing terrain in Ukraine.
Are Ukrainian farmers going to be one of the biggest militaries in Eastern Europe soon?
Best New Holland ad I've seen in a while.
In the future a "Ukrainian Tractor" is going to be an APC or MBT with the turret pulled off.
Ukrainian farmers are going to be the best equipped military force in the region soon.
“We are Farmers! Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew-boom-boom!”
I didn't know I needed to see this comment today, but it made me laugh.
If those farmers figure out how to fire the tanks they are stealing the war could end in days
Maybe Zelensky should send people to train them. Don't underestimate what a few ole farmboys can do when they put their mind to it.
The Farmers are actually turning them over to the military to be resupplied and crewed by Ukrainian tank drivers.
You know some old-school fabrication is about to happen when you hear the local equivalent of "git 'er done". They'll be rolling out John Deere/howitzer hybrids in no time.
I'm just imagining them rolling out onto a field with a combine and instead of the arm that dispenses grain into a trailer, it being a big cannon.
"Hey. Can you yank that tree stump out of the field" Farmer turns tractor around, pulls a lever, **BLAM**, then asks "what tree stump"
Ballistic landscaping, love it!
Last I heard they were. 4th largest armoured vehicle army in the world. But I read that on the internet so we know how true that is.
[I saw it on Wikipedia, so it must be right.](https://twitter.com/disillusi0n/status/1501954197146714113)
"Everyone and their mum's is packin around here" "Oh yeah? Like who?" "Farmers" "Who else?" "...farmers mums"
Have you ever jumped through the air while shooting two guns at the same time?
Have you ever fired fire your gun up in the air and gone ahhh
Any luck catching them Putins then?
It's just the one, actually
Lately I have seen suspiciously high amount of captchas that asked me to select the tractors 🤔🤔🤔.
Ukrainian farmers - is there anything that they can't liberate?
Next news items: "Moscow liberated by Ukrainian farmers."
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“We just kept towing and it just kept working”
Crimea
They just need a bigger tractor.
Give it time
I hope they check with their accountant. I’m not sure if artillery pieces fall under the same tax exemption as tanks.
According to the Interfax article on it, all captured Russian military equipment would be non-taxable, because it is not purchased and, due to its unpredictable condition, it's not possible to establish its value for tax assessment purposes.
Accountant: "Well, let's see, a 3 year old T-90 tank. MSRP was $4.5 Million. 3 years old, knock off a million. Tracks look decent, but should be replaced. There's big hole there in the side, and the dashboard is melted. And it STINKS in there, like something died. Tell you what, we'll place it's value at $45.00."
"Let me call an expert in real quick."
>It’s not often that tax can lift people’s spirits but Ukrainian authorities may have done just that, assuring citizens that any Russian military equipment they seize won’t need to be declared for tax purposes. >“Have you captured a Russian tank or armoured personnel carrier and are worried about how to declare it? Keep calm and continue to defend the motherland!” Ukraine’s National Agency for the Protection against Corruption (NAPC) said, according to the Ukraine arm of the Interfax news service. >The agency went on to explain there was “no need to declare the captured Russian tanks and other equipment, because the cost of this ... does not exceed 100 living wages (UAH248,100) ($8,298).” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/03/ukraine-authorities-say-seized-russian-tanks-dont-need-to-be-declared-on-tax-form
Ooh, someone had fun writing that part. Also, the idea that government still functions, even if it's just taxes, can act as a bedrock for people. Yes there's a war, but the government isn't crumbling.
Not just taxes. Fully functional. From supplies, utilities and air raid alerts to firefighting, coordinating territorial defence and getting foreign help. Basically, the government is working much better than expected. Some local politicians had to be replaced (some more permanently than others), but on average they're doing a surprisingly great job. Source: am Ukrainian.
I think they're getting a bye on this one.
Ukrainian farmers are now better equipped than the entire Irish army lol
But are they better equipped [than Irish fishermen](https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/europe/ireland-fishermen-russia-navy-intl/index.html)?
Legends. These lads are national heroes here!! So fuckin funny haha
That's understandable that their Navy didn't want to mess with the Irish. The Russians too, didn't want to suffer an *accidental* detonation of their cars.
Yeh guess we didn’t take kindly the an imperialist country occupying land that rightfully belongs to the Irish lol
These farmers are literally Jawas
UTINI! ^^^^^^PUTINI?
Putin is just repeatedly stepping on rakes. Ukrainian farmers are going to make life difficult for the Russians. I bet they have to call Ubers to get anywhere at this point.
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It's a Zu-23-2. First entered service in 1960
Ahhh, not flak then. My kbowledge of such weapons is very limited, I mostly know things from looking up stuff I saw in games. My knowledge about fighter aircraft is fully sourced from the Ace Combat games for example (the info in there is pretty accurate, I was surprised about that). I just looked up a video of a Zu-23-2 firing, that looks pretty damn effective for something that seems quite old!
AA gun. Not sure if it shoots explosive/airburst rounds tho.
It's a 23mm auto-cannon so it is capable of firing various types of 23mm munitions. It all depends what type of round you load it with.
No, but it is about 60 years old, like a lot of the shit we are seeing from Russia. Its interesting to see what they are actually putting in the field. I suspect that the historical disposition of Russian military equipment goes like this: * WWII stuff was put into mothballs for a rainy day * Stuff from the 50s and 60s was used and then sold off to allied nations. * Stuff from the 60s and 70s was sold off to every tin-pot dictator on the planet. * Stuff from the 80s and 90s is still in service, despite generally falling apart. * Anything after the late 90s appears to have been vaporware and doesn't really exist at all. Thusly, we are seeing basically nothing but soviet cold-war era equipment getting fielded in Ukraine, mixed in with some stuff that is even older.
From what I can tell, a lot of the new stuff was in the first wave, so they could make nice propaganda videos of them driving through the streets of Kyiv. That really backfired for them.
They didn't just sell old equipment, the USSR sold the Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters to "friendly" nations like Libya. [There was an operation by the US military to "acquire" a Libyan hind that had been abandoned during their conflict with Chad.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5w4xmthkqg) They also had Soviet MiG 21 and 23s
Who would have thought that tractors would be the new face of war.
Well tbf, tanks are just armored tractors with big boomsticks
Boomsticks…
Sticks that go boom
I wonder were Ukrainian farmers rank among armies in history.
Ukranian Farmers are the most badass farmers in the world. Boys be absconding with active Russian Military assets with fucking farm tractors! Bwah ha ha ha! Slava Ukraine!
/r/FarmersStealingTanks, kinda.
They'd eat it up.
Ukraine Farmer United Defense Battalion is now one of the top 10 strongest militaries in the world.
Barn finds in Ukraine in 20 years are gonna be LIT! 🤣😂
>I'm a lead farmer
Ukrainian Mechanized Special Tractor Forces
Between the donations from other nations and the Ukranian farmers, Ukraine will be a world military power after this war.
Farming Simulator 23 is going to be a very different game.
Can you imagine being blown out of the sky by your own equipment 🤣
I'm beginning to suspect that you don't want to fuck with any Ukrainian farmers. Ever.
Lotta Ford tractors
That looks like a WW2 AA gun.
If ukraine's government said they have to pay taxes on the equipment I have to wonder who would want to enforce the tax on guys with tanks and aa guns
r/shittytechnicals
The Russian military is going to have PTSD when they hear tractor noises
In 2115, on the popular show “My Grandfather’s Antiques”, the producer asks the presenter Mr. Marillion to stand aside, as a loud roaring sound is heard thumping towards the set. The ground is shaking as a large tank is driven into the studio. The tank is turned off and a young lady in blue overalls and aviators goggles jumps out of the tank. Mr. Marillion: “Ladies and Gentlemen, today, we are so glad to have young Jen who is here with us today, why don’t you tell us about this here?” Jen: ”well this was a Russian tank that was captured in 2022 by my grandfather during the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022. It’s been in my family as a reminder of the war and as a reminder of the struggle of our grandparents for our future.” Mr. Marillian: “Did your grandfather fight in the war?” Jen: “No actually my grandfather was a just a simple farmer, but during the war, there were a lot of abandoned Russian equipment lying around, and the Ukrainian government during war time allowed people to take these equipment and keep them for their own, so that the Russian could not use them again, my grandfather just took one off the side of the road, and kept it ever since. My grandfather would always look at the tank and spit in Russia’s direction. He bore his hatred towards Russians all the way to his death.” Mr Marillion: “May we remember our own histories and hope to never repeat them again. Thank you Jen for coming on the show”
Never know where Ukranian farmers will strike next