Oops… ‘Tank’ Brutally Assaulting Elderly Civilian Turns Out to be Ukrainian
Jordan Epperson
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Tragedy nearly struck in Kyiv, as a large vehicle on tank tracks drove over a small civilian car with an elderly Ukrainian man inside of it. Miraculously, the driver survived, despite his entire automobile being crushed and destroyed.
While many mainstream media sources were quick to report this as a violent Russian soldier attempting to murder peaceful citizens, many knowledgeable internet users were quick to point out that the vehicle was actually a Ukrainian Army 9K35 Strela-10 Surface-to-Air Missile system.
While the Strela-10 is a Soviet anti-aircraft vehicle, used by the militaries of both Ukraine and Russia, it is important to note that the Russian ground forces had not yet reached the city of Kyiv at the time of the vehicle’s destruction.
It is also important to note that, being an anti-air weapon, the Ukrainian army has deployed multiple Strela-10’s across the capital city in an attempt to shoot down Russian planes trying to assault military targets.
Russia destroyed much of Ukraine’s permanent air defense systems in precision rocket strikes earlier this week. Russia would have no reason to deploy a lone anti-air vehicle Kyiv, not to mention all Russian vehicles have been marked with white ‘Z’s to distinguish them from their Ukrainian counterparts.
The full video can be seen below:
As you can see, the Ukrainian vehicle appears to be attempting to maneuver and take out Russian aircraft over Kyiv before accidentally crashing into the civilian vehicle due to negligence.
Other Srtela-10 systems were seen maneuvering around Kyiv around the time of the accident. It is very possible that they are Kyiv’s last fully-function anti-air system and there are an abundance in the area.
While many supporters of Ukraine have taken to social media claiming the driver was actually a Russian agent with a stolen vehicle, this is highly unlikely. The “agent” would have had to either:
1) Steal the Strela from its crew unnoticed in Kyiv, which would be nearly impossible, or
2) Cross from the Russian lines to the Ukrainian lines in a captured vehicle, where they would’ve been apprehended at one of multiple checkpoints en route to the capital city.
While the War in Ukraine is tragic, it is important to remember the famous phrase: Truth is the first casualty in war. Whatever our opinion of the conflict, we cannot allow ourselves to lie and participate in propaganda games of either side by knowingly spreading blatantly false information.
Regardless of what happens, we will keep the people of Eastern Europe in our prayers for the foreseeable future.
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