UK Ministry of Defence compares latest Russian kit to tractors
The British Ministry of Defence has compared the latest Russian vehicles to be deployed to tractors as it slapped down Vladimir Putin’s claim he has ‘‘not even started’’ its efforts in Ukraine.
Russia’s army is running out of decent kit and is deploying its reserve infantry in outdated personnel carriers, an intelligence update published on Saturday stated.
It came two days after Vladimir Putin claimed Russia ‘‘by and large hasn’t started anything serious yet’’.
His remarks came amid reports Russia was training new forces to send to Ukraine where its troops are regrouping after completing their capture of Luhansk region, half of Donbas.
The MoD confirmed the Russian force deployment but added that the MT-LB vehicles the Russian infantry is rolling out are knackered and lightly armed.
‘‘Russia has long considered them unsuitable for most front-line infantry transport roles,’’ it said. ‘‘It was originally designed in the 1950s as a tractor to pull artillery, has very limited armour, and only mounts a machine gun for protection.’’
The low-slung MT-LB was designed as a Cold War ‘‘amphibious tractor’’ and can carry up to 10 soldiers in its cramped and airless hold, as well as a driver and a gunner.
Its simple design compares to the more sophisticated BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, used in Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine, which carries 33mm thick armour, a 30mm autocannon and an anti-tank missile launcher.
Russian media has reported that the Arctic Fleets’ 200th Motorised Infantry Brigade has deployed to Ukraine and Ukrainian intelligence has said that Russia is raising a new infantry corps near Nizhny Novgorod.
Rob Lee, a research student in the War Studies department at King’s College London, said that the 200th Motorised Infantry Brigade had been involved near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, where it had taken heavy casualties and lost a large amount of equipment.