Soldiers from the Central Military District, still wearing their Covid-19 protection masks, can be seen maneuvering the T-12 cannon off a trailer, and positioning it mere 180 meters (200 yards) away from the burning wellhead, then repeatedly shooting it with 100-mm shells.

The operation was carried out “with jeweler’s precision,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement accompanying the video.

With the burning wellhead superstructure demolished, the firefighters were able to get the blaze under control by inserting a pipe into the well.

While it is commonplace to use explosives in handling oil field fires, it is highly unusual to deploy military anti-tank weapons for the role. The Irkutsk Oil Company subsidiary that owns the field called in the military on Friday, having no luck in putting out the fire that broke out on May 30. The weapon and its crew were flown in from Samara, some 4,500 kilometers away.

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