It is far from being a new subject, that the Russian Federation’s forces take part in fights in the Ukrainian Donbas. This has been reported in the Ukrainian media many times. But to all skeptics, both local and international, definite visual prove of these facts is always needed.
The presence of the Russian tanks, particularly the newest ‘T-90’ model, has also been raised over the July-September period, but there was no trophy or photo proof of that. Now we can know for sure that Russian T-90 tanks took part in fights near the Luhansk airport.
This is proved by the pictures posted on the VK profile of a Russian tank crewman. The unit involved was the tank battalion of the 136th motorized rifle brigade (military unit No. 63354, Buynaksk , Republic of Dagestan, Russia). The photographs were uploaded between the 2nd and 12th of October, 2014.
We have managed to identify the location where the pictures were taken, namely the road close to Fabrychne locality close to Luhansk airport. The road signboard shows “left to Krasny Luch”, “straight to Starobelsk”, and “right to Luhansk”. (I am grateful to my friends and readers and also to Artem Vasilenko, an expert of the InformNapalm’s team for help in defining the locality).
Overhead (right to left) 1. Soldier here 2. Two trees 3. Signboard 4. Five trees 5. Hedge 6. Hedge 7. Road junction
Notes on photo: (top) 2 trees, (mid) Hedge left of road, (bottom) Five trees
I have also written about the moving of tanks from Buynaksk to Rostov and the Ukrainian Donbas. There were photos found on social media showing the presence of tanks from Dagestan as well as of a destroyed BMD vehicle (supposedly Russian), but we could not be completely sure because of missing geotags, comments or other identification marks. But this material clearly proves the presence of the Russian T-90s in Ukraine.
The pictures were taken from the profile of the Russian tank crewman of the 136th motorized rife brigade, Vitalek (Vitalik) Markasov, tank id ‘438’ is stenciled on his headgear (the IDs on the tanks are damaged). However tanks with numbers ‘4..’ (for example 431, 434, 454, 458) were more than once seen in photos taken on the train cargo stations in Kizlyar, Dagestan, and on photos of the tanks transferred to Rostov Oblast (and then later to Donbas).
Assessing Markasov we can say that he is a contract serviceman of the tank battalion of the 136th motorized rifle brigade. In June 2014, along with other tank crews, he had trainings in a ‘survival school’ close to Volgograd. He was sent to Donbas after that. As for October, 12, he (and so his tank unit) is still in the conflict zone in the territory of Ukraine (please pay attention to the comments).
I would like to address Catherine Ann Fitzpatrick, who writes for ‘Tne Interpreter’:
Dear Catherine Ann, you have asked for more reliable information about the Kremlin’s participation in the war in Donbas. The presented article is justified with the undeniable facts.
My previous address remained unanswered.
Here are some links to the previous articles on InformNapalm about the Russian tanks and their crews:
Photo-sets of the Russian tank men of 135 MSBR from “business trip”
Tank “T-90” and SAV “Akatsyya” 136 MSBR from Dagestan on the border of Ukraine
Original article by Irakli Komaxidze translated by Eugenia Zlamanuk
Read the latest book “Donbas in Flames. Guide to the Conflict Zone” published by Prometheus Center. This guide will be useful to journalists, researchers, war experts, diplomats and general readers seeking information on the war in Donbas.
10 Responses to “Russian T-90 Tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast”
03/04/2015
Panzer der 18. separaten motorisierten Schützenbrigade aus Tschetschenien in der Ukraine. - InformNapalm.org (Deutsch)[…] 136. separate motorisierte Schützenbrigade (englisch) („T-90“, Einheit №63354, Bujnaksk, […]
05/30/2016
Le char russe T-90A fait son apparition sur les photos des militaires russes, puis, celles des terroristes - InformNapalm.org (Français)[…] de détails dans notre enquête « Les chars russes « T-90″ de la 136e Brigade des fusiliers motorisés d…. Revenons, une fois de plus à ces […]
09/11/2016
Russian Artillery of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade Identified in Ukraine - InformNapalm.org (English)[…] Russian T-90 Tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast10/20/2014 […]
09/16/2016
Ryska artilleriets 136:e motoriserade skyttebrigad i Ukraina - InformNapalm på svenska[…] border, 10/05/2014 ② Photos of the 136th Brigade’s tankmen from their trip, 19/10/2014 ③ Russian «T-90» tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast, 20/10/2014 ④ Russian propaganda bragging about the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Debaltseve, 15/02/2015 […]
10/09/2016
Selfie with Russian T-90A Tank Surfaces in Social Media Accounts of Russian Servicemen - InformNapalm.org (English)[…] straight ahead – Starobelsk, to the right – Lugansk. Find more in our investigation Russian T-90 Tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast. Let us have another look at these […]
04/03/2017
Devil's dozen from Buynaksk awarded for war in Donbas - InformNapalm.org (English)[…] to the border with Ukraine, to the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy. InformNapalm already presented in 2014 and 2016 evidence of this unit’s personnel and armament redeployments from Dagestan […]
04/07/2017
Djävulens dussin från Buinaksk får utmärkelser för kriget i Donbass - InformNapalm på svenska[…] i Volgograd län. Sedan till gränsstaden Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy. InformNapalm har tidigare (2014 och 2016) lagt fram bevis för brigadens personal och rörelser av krigsmaterial från Dagestan mot […]
10/09/2017
Tankmen of Russian 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Ukraine - InformNapalm.org (English)[…] Russian T-90 Tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast 10/20/2014 […]
10/12/2017
Identifiering av ryska soldater genom information från en video[…] Det bör påpekas att i slutet av videon visas en rysk T-90A-stridsvagn vid samma kontrollpunkt. Stridsvagnar av denna modifiering har tidigare observerats av InformNapalm i Luhanskregionen. För mer information, läs vår artikel med titeln: “Ryska T-90-stridsvagnar från 136:e mekaniserade infanteribriga…“. […]
10/27/2017
Russian soldiers identified through information from a video - InformNapalm.org (English)[…] There is a frame that deserves a special note – at the end of the video a Russian T-90A main battle tank is seen next to the same checkpoint. Tanks of this modification were observed by InformNapalm earlier in the area of Luhansk. Read more: Russian T-90 Tanks of the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade in Luhansk Oblast. […]