The war in Ukraine has truly produced some history moments.
And many aren’t topics that Russian President Putin wants us to know about.
The below is a prime example – courtesy of social media:
Ukraine’s Tractors Are Back, and They Are Coming for More Tanks: Throughout the war in Ukraine, and particularly in the early days, video footage of Ukrainian farmers towing away Russian tanks and weapons went viral.
The clips offered an insight into the fighting spirit across Ukraine, showing how farmers were able to help Ukrainian soldiers claim Russian tanks and repurpose them for their own use.
As fighting intensified, the videos appeared less.
Millions of Ukrainians fled the country as Russian troops increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure – but since Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive back in September, the tractor videos returned for awhile.
What We Know
One video shared by Ukraine News Live on September 11 of last year showed the “tractor brigade” returning to the battlefields and taking away more tanks.
The video showed a Russian T-72B3 being towed by a Ukrainian tractor down a country road.
In the clip, Ukrainian soldiers can be seen standing at the side of the road, filming the tractors pulling and pushing the tank down the road.
Soldiers also move their military vehicles to the side of the road to make it easier for the tractor to pass.
????The tractor brigade returned and immediately began work on the T-72B3. I really missed these guys)#Ukraine #UkrainianArmy #SlavaUkraini #UkraineRussiaWar #Ukrainian #ukrainecounteroffensive #Ukraina #UkraineWar #Ukrainians #UkraineRussianWar pic.twitter.com/Wnw5061JtL
— ??Ukraine News Live?? (@UkraineNewsLive) September 11, 2022
“The tractor brigade returned and immediately began work on the T-72B3. I really missed these guys,” the post reads.
The same video was also shared by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Twitter on September 12 of last year.
“When the Russian army goes on a negative offensive, the greatest harvest for our tractor troops begins – collecting trophies,” the government department’s Twitter post reads.
When the russian army goes on a negative offensive, the greatest harvest for our tractor troops begins – collecting trophies ???
Sometimes, undisciplined tractor troops accidentally devour the crew along with the trophy! pic.twitter.com/WGLWJKXykX— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 12, 2022
“Sometimes, the undisciplined tractor troops accidentally devour the crew along with the trophy!”
Another video recorded by Ukrainian soldiers driving on a highway showed a Russian tank being towed by two Ukrainian tractors along the same road.
The account which shared the video on Twitter described the tractor operators as the “Ukrainian Peasant Tractor Brigade” and said the local farmers have begun resuming their “favorite work.”
The “Ukrainian Peasant Tractor Brigade” (UPTB) resumes their favorite work ?????????#UkraineRussiaWar #UkraineUnderAttack #RussiaIsATerroristState #RussianWarCrimes #HIMARS #StandWithUkraine #ukraine #HIMARSOCLOCK #crimea #donbas #SlavaUkraini #kharkiv #Kherson #Izyum pic.twitter.com/MdWgclE01W
— ?People Live One Life.?Plants Live An Autumn?? (@Ngoc_Minh24) September 14, 2022
What Happens to the Tanks?
An interview with one of the men behind the operation, published by Eastern European news outlet NEXTA, revealed what happens after the farmers tow away the tanks.
The farmer told the news network that he originally intended to take the tank home for himself, but that it was soon confiscated from him by the Ukrainian military.
“I wanted to take one for myself, but the 93rd brigade took everything,” the tractor driver said. “I’ll remember them.”
Ukrainian tractor driver complains that the Armed Forces of Ukraine took a captured Russian tank from him?
“I wanted to take one for myself, but the 93rd brigade took everything. I’ll remember them.” pic.twitter.com/mrbq5dtt3T
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 13, 2022
While it has been sometime since the last tractor video, it surely seems highly likely more footage like this will likely emerge in the coming months. Stay tuned.
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Jack Buckby 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.