Maxim Kitugin with the nickname “Tank prodigy”/ARMYinform
Recently tankers from Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Kitugin's battalion received state awards. The Ukrainian military is holding the line in the East and is fighting in one of the hot spots.
Since 2014, the captain and commander of the mouth have been called the “tank prodigy.” Such a nickname was preceded by several successful and heroic deeds of Kitugin at the front.
One day, the militants let down one of the Ukrainian military vehicles. The partly wounded BMP crew accepted the battle. Then Kitugin went to the rescue on his tank. From a distance, he smashed one of the enemy vehicles, stopped the machine gun with cannon fire and towed the wrecked car of his brothers.
After that, Kitugin repeatedly showed tactical literacy in battles and battalion commander Colonel Yuri Laksha appointed him chief of staff of the battalion. Back in 2014, Major Maksim Kitugin received the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, III degree, for battles, and today he is a battalion commander.
We do different things, but we fight for one thing
We are all minding our own business, who is more, who is less, we are all fighting for the common thing, in order to expel these rashists from here or destroy them. As they say, it is easier to beat a father in a group, so the whole group received awards and awards – the company commander, tank commanders, mechanics and gunners, – Kigutin himself said.
The crew of senior sergeant Alexander Slyusarenko – mechanic driver Artur Piletsky and soldier gunner Andrey Kharitonenkov received shell shock in one of the battles when their tank experienced a direct hit by a projectile. But then the soldiers continued the fight, and today they are back in the ranks.
In the same battle, there was a crew of the company commander, consisting of Captain Stanislav Madlinsky, gunner Senior Sergeant Nikolai Saraponyuk and mechanic driver Junior Sergeant Eduard Dovgal. They destroyed the Bekha, which for several days tried to expose the firing points of the Ukrainians, as well as one persistent Russian tank.
Kitugin says that there were many difficulties in this duel, because the tanks of infidels hardly stand still, move, and NLAW could not always catch them for a sure defeat.
“But Madlinsky caught and burned this tank. They destroyed mortar crews, infantry. In one of the battles, Madlinsky's tank received three hits with cumulative shells, explosives in dynamic protection boxes caught fire. The crew extinguished the flames with water, climbed back into the tank and took it out of the tank and took it out him from the tank.” , continuing to shoot back, “says the lieutenant colonel about the battle.
Kitugin's battalion is actively defending, occupying certain positions where the real front line is, and the Russians are operating in that area with groups of tanks and other armor, trying to pass and push through the defense .
Sometimes they succeed, then we knock them out, we ourselves move forward. Some areas change hands several times. No one talks about fatigue, how can you get tired of defending your homeland? – noted the “Tank prodigy”.
Awards are the merit of subordinates
Kitugin says that commanders' awards are the merit of subordinates. And their task is to save these people and do everything so that they stay alive and successfully complete the task. He says that somewhere you need to cover them, and sometimes just talk.
Conversations are important, because each soldier has his own level of mental toughness. Someone may be frightened by the sight of a rocket or as soon as they hear mortar explosions.
“But after you mentally set up, they already want to go into battle. One of my awardees received a combat injury – just a joint with shoulder fell out. They brought him to the hospital, they said that it was necessary to put on a bandage and stay in the hospital for 2 weeks. He got into the ambulance, saying, “I won’t stay here, I’ll go to the boys.” His doctors are pulling him out of the car, and he is his. So the doctors came back with him,” Kitugin said.
