Moment fish jumps into tank hatch caught on camera in Ukraine

Unlucky fish seems startled as armoured troop carrier crosses unidentified river

Camera footage from the top of an armoured personnel carrier shows the moment a fish jumps into the driver’s hatch as it crosses a river in Ukraine.

The vehicle, which appears to be a Russian-made BMP-1 troop carrier used in Ukrainian operations, has the capability to cross short expanses of water, a practice called “swimming” by crew members, and can do this in water up to 10 metres deep, at a speed of about 10kph.

Two unlucky fish appear startled by the nearly 20-tonne tank as it moves through the river, before one of them bounces right into the driver’s hatch. He appears unmoved by the incident and later, the video cuts to the fish being cooked in a pot.

It provided a moment of levity for the soldiers in a conflict that has caused colossal loss of life and led to massive environmental damage. Ukraine's forces are currently embarking on one of the largest military offensives of the conflict so far.

The video, posted on Twitter by an account called Citizen of Ukraine, shows the moment was even captured by a drone monitoring the river crossing.

Water obstacles are often said to be the main enemy of armoured vehicles, with very few models capable of crossing safely, even when fitted with amphibious capabilities such as snorkels.

Countless armoured vehicles on both sides in the current conflict in Ukraine have been lost trying to ford or “swim” rivers.

Some armoured vehicles, however, including German Leopard 2s and Russian-made T-72s, can “deep wade” at depths up to five metres, so that water completely covers the turret, when fitted with long enough snorkels.