icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
14 Jun, 2019 14:45

Drunk man terrorizes streets of small Polish town in Soviet tank

Drunk man terrorizes streets of small Polish town in Soviet tank

Police in central Poland responded to a late evening call over an incident that surely sent chills down the spines of Russophobe conspiracy theorists: a T-55 tank rampaging down the main street.

When police arrived at the scene in the town of Pajeczno on Thursday night, they found the Soviet-era tank casually parked on a central roadway with its two occupants nearby, one of whom was an intoxicated 49-year-old man who had been in the driver seat.

As it turns out, he had been authorized to drive the vehicle – although his superiors presumably only wanted him to move it off and on the damaged trailer on which it was being transported, rather than driving it through the city center. They also likely expected him to remain sober while operating the 36-ton armored combat vehicle. To make matters worse, local media report that there was no insurance policy on the tank.

Police were unable to get the tank off the street and onto a trailer until 5am.

RT

The bulletproof joyride could cost the driver two years behind bars for driving under the influence, and up to eight years for creating a dangerous situation, although there are no reports of anything being destroyed or run over during the escapade.

On Twitter, quite a number of people commented that the incident had a striking similarity to the newer installments of the popular game ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ only with a distinctively Polish twist.

Another person suggested that the driver’s drunken state may have resulted in some geographical, and perhaps, historical confusion.

While the idea of an actual Russian tank attack in our day and age would seem laughable to most, that certainly isn’t the point of view of the current government in Warsaw. On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda cited a litany of historical grievances against Russia while signing a massive new defense deal with the US.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!

Podcasts
0:00
24:55
0:00
28:50