

Progress, however, has not come easy, and Ukrainian officials have frequently pushed back on pessimism that the counteroffensive is not moving fast enough, arguing that a quick, sweeping counteroffensive isn't "feasible" with just the weapons it has now. Ukrainian forces built up an impressive arsenal of tanks, armored vehicles, and other weaponry provided by the US and its NATO allies to deliver an armored punch through Russian fortifications. They consist of anti-tank ditches, barbed wire, concrete-hardened trenches, anti-tank and antipersonnel minefields, dragon's teeth anti-vehicle obstacles, and bunkers. Russia's troops have built layers of sophisticated and vicious defenses designed to inflict as much pain on Ukraine's advancing military as possible.Īs Ukrainian forces prepared for their offensive, Russian forces spent those months readying elaborate defenses behind a sprawling front line that stretches for hundreds of miles across eastern and southern Ukraine. Ukraine is several weeks into its much-anticipated counteroffensive, and its military has made small territorial gains. As one retired US general put it, Kyiv's forces need to break through "20 kilometers of hell," which is no easy task, especially with the tools at hand. Liberating Russian-occupied territory is a slow, calculated process, and for good reason. He is the in-house historian for the online game World of Tanks, and he has a YouTube channel covering armored history.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. Moran is an armor officer on M1 Abrams tanks and M3 Bradleys, with combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moran also explains the realism of tank battles on icy, sandy, and mountainous terrain in "The Beast" (1988), "Operation Red Sea" (2018), and "The Fate of the Furious" (2017) with Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel.

He looks at World War I tanks and other armored vehicles in "All Quiet on the Western Front" (2022), "Rambo III" (1988) with Sylvester Stallone, and "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) featuring Christian Bale. Moran breaks down the accuracy of World War II tanks in "Band of Brothers" E3 (2001), "T-34" (2019), and "Fury" (2014) with Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf. Military vehicle historian and armor officer Nicholas Moran rates more tank battles in movies and television for realism.
