Ukrainian T‑64BW tanks' vital role in Toreck defense
Although the Russians have almost entirely taken over the strategically important city of Toreck, the Ukrainians are attempting to hold on in the suburbs and the mine areas, facing the significant numerical superiority of the Russian forces. Often, the lives of Ukrainian soldiers are saved by the armored charges of T-64BW tanks. We explain the reasons for using these machines and their performance.
After months of intense urban fighting, the Russians have nearly captured all of Toreck, which was the main obstacle to taking the critical Kostiantynivka, one of the logistical hubs for the Ukrainians in the Donetsk region.
The video below shows a situation where soldiers from the 28th Mechanized Brigade were trapped in a building as Russians used the morning fog to sneak into Ukrainian positions. Unable to fend off the more numerous Russians, they required assistance.
Drones proved ineffective, and artillery lacked precision and had too much destructive power. For this reason, a tank, seemingly a T-64BW, was dispatched to assist, firing accurately at sections of the building occupied by the Russians, thereby saving the Ukrainian soldiers.
T-64BW tanks - a unique USSR design after modernization as the core of Ukraine's armed forces
Before the war, the core of the Ukrainian armored forces consisted of T-64 tanks developed by the Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv during the 1960s. This visionary design was too complex for the USSR, which chose to focus on simpler and easier-to-use T-72 tanks. Nevertheless, both tank models coexisted in Soviet military service, but T-64s were never exported until the USSR collapsed.
After the Soviet Union's dissolution, T-64s played a crucial role in Ukrainian armored units due to the location of the manufacturing plant in Kharkiv. The Russians, on the other hand, concentrated on enhancing locally produced tanks from the T-72 family.
Over the years, T-64 tanks have undergone continuous improvements. Modernizations began in the 1980s and continued over the following decades. The base for the Ukrainians is the T-64BW variant, which evolved into the T-64BM Bulat, T-64BW 2017, T-64BM2 Bulat, and T-64BW 2022, produced in collaboration with Poland and the Czech Republic.
Old T-64BWs after modifications remain a formidable weapon
These Ukrainian modernizations are characterized by the installation of advanced reactive armor "Nozh," which surpasses the older Kontakt-1 and Kontakt-5 reactive armor versions. The "Nozh" armor uses shaped charges instead of traditional ones, effectively protecting against single-charge warheads and APFSDS-T kinetic penetrators. It is even possible that a hit on a T-64 tank with a kinetic penetrator in the upper part of the "Nozh" block could result in it being sliced into pieces.
Moreover, since 2017, T-64BW tanks have been equipped with a fire control system with a thermal imaging camera, giving their crews a significant advantage in identifying and eliminating targets compared to all post-Soviet T-72 tank models below the B3 version.
There are even recordings where Ukrainian T-64BW tanks outmatch newer Russian T-72B3/B3M models in direct confrontations. However, it should be noted that T-64BWs, even after modifications, lag behind Russian T-90M tanks or Western-supplied tanks to Ukraine, such as the Leopard 2 or the M1A1 Abrams.
