Eerie autumn tank action in Chasiv Yar

This turret footage, courtesy of Ukraine's 24th Brigade, shows a Ukrainian tank advancing toward, and prosecuting targets within, a Russian-held treeline in Chasiv Yar. An ominous fog dominates the scene, lending an eeriness that suits the days leading up to Halloween. From the Russian infantry perspective, it may well have felt like a horror story. The rumble of the engine as the thing gets nearer in the mist. The tank, the metal monster first invented to grind over the horror of war a century ago. The sudden blast as their safety, the BMD armored personnel carrier, is ripped away from them, smoke belching out to mingle with the infernal fog. The cannon barks and barks again as the coaxial chitters. The shells are Death's swiping hand; the machine gun is his pointing finger. Grizzly work done, the tank pads backward into the fog, like Grendel returning to his lair.

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