Russian forces suffer self-inflicted losses in Kursk blunder
A Russian blogger specializing in military topics, who runs the Fighterbomber profile on Telegram, posted an entry about the destruction of a column of Ukrainian equipment in the Kursk region (Russian Federation) by a Russian Ka-52 helicopter. However, the equipment visible in the video belongs to the Russians. During the strike, the aggressor's army lost T-62M tanks, among other things.
Recently, Ukrainians have been conducting increasingly bold manoeuvres, as evidenced by their presence in the Kursk region on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to reports, up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers may have crossed the Ukrainian border. They have so far destroyed a Russian Ka-52 helicopter, among other things.
They hit the Russians on their own territory
However, it turns out that the losses on the Russian side are much more significant. These include trucks for transporting tanks and the tanks themselves – in this case, the T-62M. One of the Russian military bloggers tried to convince that the machines visible in the film from the Kursk region belong to the Ukrainians. Still, in reality, these are machines serving in the Russian army.
It is worth noting that the T-62M tanks stationed in the Kursk region may be evidence of problems with accessing newer designs. Analysts, including Polish defence expert Jarosław Wolski, have noticed that these are tanks that the Russian Federation can restore to service by obtaining the necessary parts from North Korea. However, Russia still faces issues with increasing factory output enough to cover the ongoing losses incurred in combat.
The T-62M tanks destroyed in the Kursk region were designed in the 1980s and are essentially upgrades of T-62 tanks from the 1960s. Currently, they do not meet modern military standards in any way. Although the Russians reinforce these designs with reactive armour blocks, the rest of the armour is insufficient protection against newer machines and missiles used by the Ukrainians.
The T-62M features an upgraded engine generating about 600 horsepower compared to its predecessor. Simultaneously, the Russians upgraded the tank's armour, which increased the T-62M's weight, improving the power unit and not affecting the overall usefulness of the tank. The more efficient engine, therefore, did not result in better machine performance.
The offensive capabilities of the T-62M are attributed to the 115 mm calibre cannon, another element that does not match the efficiency of newer tanks used on the front. This vehicle's gun is too weak to duel with older T-62s or T-72s. Also significant is the lack of modern optoelectronics in the T-62M, which contributes to the "blinding" of the crew operating this unit and makes it impossible to detect the enemy in the dark.
