Pensioner took on entire Russian convoy single-handed with grenades
‘I f*****g gave them what for’: Pensioner reveals how he took on entire Russian tank convoy single-handed with grenades before Ukrainian forces finished them off in one of the first major blows to Putin’s invasion
- Column of Russian tanks was rolling towards Kyiv through Bucha in February
- Valentyn Didkovskiy, 64, stayed to fight using a seized Russian grenade launcher
- He targeted a fuel truck, causing a huge explosion, destroying the convoy
A Ukrainian pensioner has revealed how he blew up a column of Russian tanks in Bucha using a stolen grenade launcher to hit a fuel truck.
Valentyn Didkovskiy, 64, waited on his own for the passing convoy as it made its way to Kyiv to unleash fury, destroying multiple vehicles in a big fireball.
He then called on his comrades who picked off the rest of the broken column in Irpin before he surveyed the smouldering wreck while gloating and shouting: ‘I f***ing gave them what for.’
The retired soldier from Lviv served in the Soviet Army in 1979 before moving to Kyiv where he worked as a taxi driver while living with his relatives in Bucha.
He tried to sign up to the Ukrainian war effort after the Russian invasion but was turned down because he had recently suffered a stroke.
But that did not stop the hardened war veteran from contributing to his country’s heroism, by single-handedly destroying a convoy in one of the defining images of the war.
Just three days after Putin launched the savage attack in February, a column of Russian tanks and military vehicles was rolling towards Kyiv, expecting to take the capital within days.
But thanks to the defiance of the Ukrainian army and volunteers like Didkovskiy, they were halted in their tracks and eventually were forced to turn back.
The streets of Bucha are seen littered with burnt out Russian tanks and military vehicles in early March
Valentyn Didkovskiy has revealed how he blew up a column of Russian tanks in Bucha using a stolen grenade launcher to hit a fuel truck
People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv
When soldiers eventually retreated, a graveyard of charred and twisted Russian tanks was revealed in Bucha, but the cause of the devastation was not known.
The powerful images showing a road filled with destroyed Russian equipment made headlines around the world, showing Putin’s weakened military in the face of such fierce defiance from Ukraine.
Didkovskiy has now told RFERL how he was the unlikely catalyst for the mass devastation.
Footage he took after the explosion shows him wildly celebrating as he surveys the burning wreckage, saying: ‘That’s what happened near my f***ing house. I f***ing gave them what for!
‘Those were f***ing Kadyrov’s troops. They have f***ing come here and now they are f***ing dead. That’s what’s f***ing left of them.’
Didkovskiy said he started helping soldiers on the front line by delivering them munitions, food and cigarettes.
The pensioner tried to sign up to the Ukrainian war effort after the Russian invasion but was turned down because he had recently suffered a stroke
When soldiers eventually retreated, a graveyard of charred and twisted Russian tanks was revealed in Bucha
A destroyed armoured vehicle, with the letter V painted on its turret, is seen on a street in Bucha
After being told he could not serve in the army, he asked soldiers in Bucha for weapons but instead scavenged a grenade launcher in Irpin.
Ukrainian defence forces had recovered an RPG-18 and four grenades from destroyed personnel carriers and tanks, which they handed over to him.
The pensioner’s volunteer formation had withdrawn but he remained in his house ready to strike when Russians passed.
On the morning of February 27, he heard the roar of military vehicles passing on his street and he readied himself for action.
He explained: ‘I saw a big column approaching from the Bucha railway station.
‘I prepared my grenade launcher and four grenades. I ran to the gate but it wasn’t a good position. The column was just 30m away.
Just three days after Putin launched the savage attack in February, a column of Russian tanks and military vehicles was rolling towards Kyiv
‘I walked behind the house, there was a trailer parked by the fence. I climbed on it quietly. The first armoured personnel carrier drove by, then an infantry vehicle, another personnel carrier, a tank.
‘Suddenly, I spotted a fuel truck and I thought: “Maybe it’ll stop some of them.”‘
Didkovskiy then explained how he aimed at the truck and fired his grenade launcher, causing a huge explosion and spilling the fuel, meaning the Russians could not move.
He fired two more grenades but kept one in his hand.
As the fire ripped through the street, the pensioner escaped to a neighbour’s house and heard a series of powerful explosions.
The flames even partly destroyed Didkovskiy’s own home but his son and other veterans are helping him rebuild it.
After finding safety, he contacted the commander of his unit and told them to fire at the halted convoy.
He told Pravda: ‘After about five to ten minutes, the boys started shouting at them.
‘They were like that explosions… I don’t know what they were used for, but there were very big explosions.’
Part of the broken column then moved on towards Irpin to bypass a blocked street but ran into further Ukrainian defences, losing two armoured personnel carriers and multiple soldiers, and they retreated to Bucha.
The advance on Kyiv from Bucha was halted and they never tried to advance on the capital from the town again.
Didkovskiy continues to patrol Bucha and says he is ready to go to the front lines if necessary.
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