When a Group of Drunk Guys Drove a Soviet Tank Through a Polish Town to Buy Beer

It’s not every day that residents of a quiet Polish town see a 36-ton Soviet tank rolling down their main street. But on the night of June 12, 2019, that’s exactly what happened in Pajęczno, a small town in central Poland. What made the scene even stranger was that the tank wasn’t part of a parade or a military display—it was being driven by a drunk man, with a few equally drunk friends hanging on.

The vehicle was a Soviet-era T-55, a Cold War relic built for war zones, not beer runs. It had been scheduled for transport on a trailer, likely part of a military display or private collection. But something went wrong with the trailer, and instead of waiting for proper help, the 49-year-old man—who was actually responsible for overseeing the tank’s transport—decided to drive it off the trailer and into town himself. He didn’t have a tank driver’s license (unsurprisingly) and had been drinking.

Photos that later spread online show the tank making a turn onto a residential street, with at least five people clearly visible onboard—one behind the hatch and the others sitting casually on the tank like they were out for a ride in a convertible. Although police officially reported detaining only two people (the driver and one passenger), the images and videos suggest a larger group may have joined the ride and left before officers arrived. This is also proved by a video one resident took.

According to local reports, the tank stalled in the middle of the road, which drew the attention of nearby residents and eventually the police. Officers arrived to find the driver intoxicated—he reportedly had close to 1.0‰ alcohol in his system. Since a T-55 is not registered for public roads, and certainly not meant to be operated while drunk, the man was arrested and charged with creating a public danger.

Luckily, no one was injured and no property was damaged. But it still took until early morning for the tank to be removed, with help from someone who actually knew how to drive such a vehicle. It remained parked in town overnight until authorities could arrange for proper recovery.

The man faced two charges: operating a vehicle under the influence, which in Poland can carry a sentence of up to two years, and causing a public threat, which can lead to up to eight years in prison. Authorities also confirmed that the tank was uninsured and that the man did not hold any license for such a vehicle.

The incident quickly spread online. People shared memes, photos, and even short video clips on platforms like Reddit and TikTok. One of the most shared captions claimed the group was headed to a liquor store to buy more beer—there’s no official confirmation of that goal, but it’s the kind of detail that made the story take off. The idea of a bunch of drunk guys joyriding through a quiet town in a Cold War tank, possibly to restock their drinks, was too absurd not to go viral.

What makes this even more interesting is that it wasn’t the only such incident in recent memory. Just a year earlier, in January 2018, something similar happened in Russia. In the snowy town of Apatity, a man stole an MT-LB armored personnel carrier from a military driving school. He drove it straight through a forest and into a local liquor store—literally crashing through the wall. After smashing a parked car, he got out, walked into the store, and took a bottle of wine. He was arrested at the scene, also without putting up a fight.

В Апатитах танк врезался в витрину магазина https://t.co/brvBrdop0o pic.twitter.com/AZdoTQGLIo

— Мурманск новости (@hibiny_ru) January 10, 2018

The Russian story made headlines at the time, mostly because of how blunt and destructive it was. But the Polish incident stood out in a different way—thanks to the eerie calm of the footage, the casualness of the riders, and the slightly surreal image of a Soviet tank casually cruising through town on a summer night.

These two incidents, though unrelated, show that when you mix military vehicles, alcohol, and poor decisions, you sometimes get stories that are as strange as they are memorable. In both cases, no one was hurt, but both drivers faced serious charges. In Poland, operating any vehicle under the influence is a criminal offense, and doing so in a 36-ton tank made things even worse.

Whether or not the group actually reached the liquor store doesn’t really matter at this point. The story lives on mostly through a single photo: a T-55, a few drunk men, and a quiet Polish street at twilight. It looks like the kind of thing you’d see in a video game—or maybe in the kind of dream that starts after one too many beers.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4