A soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Maxim Likhachev, hijacked a T-64 tank and defected to Russia in Donetsk region, Russian media reported.
Previously, 39-year-old Likhachev from Svatove, Luhansk region, returned to Ukraine from Poland. He soon joined the 101st brigade of the AFU. He was part of the 59th brigade of the AFU at the time of his voluntary surrender.
The defector reported that he decided to surrender using a tank for security reasons. No one would have suspected him of escaping, believing he was on a combat mission, he explained.
Likhachev agreed in advance with Russian soldiers that he would approach Russian positions on a tank, according to Russian media. As agreed, Likhachev raised the barrel of the tank high up to identify himself.
In the video, a Russian soldier is heard saying, “Turn around. Pull up your jacket. Get down on the ground. Hands behind your back.” Then he commands to examine the defector. One of the soldiers addressed Likhachev with the following words:
Alive? Is everything all right? That’s it, a new life begins (…) without all this military bullsh*t.
Discontent in Verkhovna Rada
It comes against the backdrop of an ongoing Russian offensive in Kharkiv region. On May 23, the Russian military reportedly hit a railway train carrying Ukrainian tanks. The train transporting 10 vehicles was targeted at the Lyubotyn station, Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian media.
The atmosphere in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) is also getting heated. People’s Deputy of Ukraine Mariana Bezuhla publicly criticised the commander-in-chief of the country’s Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and his headquarters. In her recent statement, she said:
Let’s get this straight. I can now see the higher military machine punishing everyone who talks about this, but here is the truth: neither the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Zaluzhny, nor Syrskyi prepared fortifications in Kharkiv region.
Bezuhla particularly criticised the lack of fortifications and the absence of proper mine defences.
There were simply no fortifications on the border, and what was built in the rear by the military administration was created in accordance with World War II Soviet guidelines provided by the AFU General Staff or chaotically at all, at inflated prices and was empty. That is, the generals did not place military personnel there at all! (…) Mining was also minimal.
Similar case
In February, Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov carried out a move similar to what Likhachev did. He hijacked a helicopter of the Russian armed forces in Kharkiv region.
However, Spanish media soon reported that Kuzminov’s body was found in an underground garage in the town of Villajoyosa, southern Spain, on February 13. He had been living there under a fake Ukrainian identity.
