Destroyed Soviet T-34 and Valentine IX Tanks in the Battle of Melitopol, 1943

December 12, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes

Destroyed Soviet T-34 and Valentine IX tanks ambushed by German PaK-38 guns during the Battle of Melitopol, 1943.

This photograph captures destroyed Soviet medium tanks — a T-34 and a British-built Valentine Mk. IX — knocked out during the Soviet offensive on Melitopol in the autumn of 1943. Both vehicles belonged to the 19th Tank Corps of the Red Army’s Southern Front, which took part in the fierce fighting to liberate the city.

The tanks were ambushed by German 5 cm PaK-38 anti-tank guns, whose armor-piercing rounds proved lethal at close range. The nearest destroyed Soviet tank is being used by German infantry as an improvised firing position. Notably, the PaK-38 visible in the scene lacks its muzzle brake—either removed or lost in combat.

The photo is frequently misattributed online as being from the Rzhev sector, but this is incorrect. The presence of the Valentine Mk. IX, a Lend-Lease modification that only began arriving in the USSR in February 1943 and appeared on the front lines in late summer, firmly places the scene in the southern theater during the advance toward Melitopol.

This image comes from the work of military historians Robert Johnson and Uwe Feist, who documented captured and destroyed armored vehicles used or encountered by the Wehrmacht.

Technical Photo Data:

📍 Location: Melitopol, Ukraine, USSR
📅 Date: September–October 1943
📝 Subject: Destroyed T-34 and Valentine Mk. IX tanks of the 19th Tank Corps
📚 Source: Robert Johnson & Uwe Feist, Captured Vehicles in Wehrmacht Service

• Lend-Lease Valentine tanks USSR
• Soviet Southern Front 1943
• Melitopol offensive
• Destroyed Soviet armor WWII
• German anti-tank ambushes