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Footage Shows Ukraine Captured Russia’s Killer T-90M Tank

T-90M. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
T-90M Tank from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

The war in Ukraine keeps heating up by the second.

Does anyone know really who will win?

We do know this: social media can give us many clues: 

Video footage shared on social media appeared back in February to show an American heavy-duty military transport truck in use in Ukraine.

The video shows the Oshkosh M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET) pulling a captured Russian T-90M tank on a trailer. 

The short video doesn’t show the vehicle moving but does show the captured tank covered in green fabric and camouflage material.

The tank looks to be in good condition, suggesting that it may be on the way for repair and refurbishment. 

The T-90M is a Russian main battle tank built on the old T-72 platform.

It is considered by many experts to be Russia’s best-deployed tank in Ukraine to date. 

What Is the M1070 HET?

The Oshkosh M1070 HET is a heavy-duty military vehicle manufactured by Wisconsin’s Oshkosh Corporation.

The vehicle, with its eight wheels and large size, is designed to transport heavy vehicles over lang distances. The M1070 can move trucks, tanks, Armored Fighting Vehicles, and other heavy military vehicles used o the battlefield. 

The vehicle was originally designed to transport the M1 Abrams tank from the United States, many of which have already been promised to Ukraine.

According to U.S. Army spokeswoman Christine Wormuth, who spoke to reporters on Thursday, those Abrams tanks may not arrive in Ukraine this year. 

“We’re looking at what’s the fastest way we can get the tanks to the Ukrainians,” Wormuth said. “It’s not going to be a matter of weeks.”

Despite the Abrams tank delays, however, the M1070 will be perfectly capable of moving other Soviet-era and NATO-standard tanks and howitzers in use in Ukraine. 

We May Know Where They Came From

The video came just weeks after former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko revealed on Facebook that funds provided by the Poroshenko Foundation, with the help of the Ukrainian volunteers association SPRAVA HROMAD, Ukrainian soldiers were set to receive M1070 HET trucks designed to help move howitzers on the battlefield. 

The trucks are a huge step up for Ukrainian soldiers who have, throughout the war, relied heavily on the use of modified civilian trucks to transport howitzers and tanks that need to be repaired or moved off the battlefield.

Trucks were even used to move the PsH 2000, a 57-ton German self-propelled howitzer which is normally moved by military transporter trucks. While the civilian trucks worked, their smaller engines meant that troops could only transport the vehicles slowly. 

Reports revealed how SPRAVA HROMAD and the Poroshenko Foundation had obtained export license authorized from the U.S. Department of Defense, allowing them to use funds to purchase two of the Oshkosh trucks. 

The video is embedded below. If this piece is syndicated it may not fully appear. You can watch the video on Twitter here if that happens. 

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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