T72: Number 583 |verified|

A Ukrainian Stugna-P anti-tank missile team locks on. The missile flies for six seconds and strikes the turret roof—a catastrophic kill. The ammunition carousel detonates. The turret of the T-72, which weighs roughly 12 tons, is thrown 50 meters into the air, landing upside down in a farmer's field.

This was the first confirmed sighting of in active combat in nearly 30 years. How did a tank from the 79th Guards Division end up in the hands of separatists? The answer lies in the "stolen" Ukrainian stockpiles. t72 number 583

During the Soviet withdrawal from Germany in 1992-1994, the 79th Division retreated to the Volga region. However, logistics being what they were, many tanks were left in storage depots in Ukraine and Belarus. It is here that the trail of Number 583 goes cold—until the summer of 2014. On August 24, 2014, Ukrainian Independence Day, a rebel column from the Donetsk People's Republic attempted to break out of encirclement near the town of Ilovaisk. Amidst the chaos, a drone operator captured grainy footage of a T-72B Model 1989, notable for its "super-dickhead" turret profile (a nickname for the heavy armor array). On its side, barely visible under a fresh coat of hastily applied green paint, was a faded number: 583 . A Ukrainian Stugna-P anti-tank missile team locks on