A multipurpose armoured vehicle, MT-LB, was used as an explosive by Russian forces to target the trenches in Avdiivka, one of the most fiercely contested areas in Ukraine in the ongoing war.
The drone footage of Russia's Kamikaze-style attack shows the MT-LB navigating through fields and heading straight toward the Ukrainian positions.
The MT-LB was rigged with two-tonne explosives and directed at the Ukrainian trenches. The mission's objective was to carry out a Kamikaze-style attack where a rigged vehicle, drone or even aircraft intentionally is made to hit enemy targets. The Kamikaze suicide missions were first seen towards the end of World War II when the pilots of a depleted Japanese air force would ram their fighter planes on Allied aircraft and ships.
The Kamikaze-Style Attack
In this attack, a soldier jumps from the vehicle after steering it in the direction of the target. He runs in the opposite direction in an open field to save himself. The Russian soldier, holding his weapons, hides next to a destroyed tank and in less than a minute the MT-LB explodes over a mine. The massive explosion sent shockwaves in all directions.
If the MT-LB had reached the Ukrainian trenches, the casualty number could've been much higher.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Avdiivka one of the "hottest" areas on the front line.
The undated video from the Battle of Avdiivka highlights several threats such attacks pose, including stepping on a mine. Rigged with mines, the camouflaged explosives cannot be spotted easily in ankle-length bushes, especially in such attacks. The threat of an ambush from Ukrainian trenches and sniper attacks from concealed positions.
Russia Steps Up Attacks
Russia has stepped up attacks on the shattered eastern Ukrainian frontline town of Avdiivka.
Russian troops are using armoured vehicles, targeting the industrial zone and hitting positions in the town "around the clock" to strike high-rise buildings, mayor Vitaliy Barabash said.
Under fire since 2014, the town has been largely destroyed by shelling but has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
Russian forces are likely near the town's huge coke plant in a "key tactical position" close to the main road leading to Avdiivka.
