Russian Forces Capture Vietnam War-Era US M113 APC During Avdeyevka Liberation

The M113 APC was introduced into service by the US Army in 1961 and was first used in combat in 1962. Since then, has participated in all armed conflicts involving the US and its allies, including the Vietnam War.

During the battle for Avdeyevka, soldiers of Battlegroup Tsentr captured foreign equipment, including an American M113 armored personnel carrier, as well as Turkish and British armored vehicles, a Sputnik correspondent has reported. The trophies were displayed by servicemen of a repair and evacuation regiment.

"One of the most mass-produced armored personnel carriers of the US Army, which was used in the Vietnam War. A fairly large batch was delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This model is notable in that it is generally also a 120-millimeter mortar carrier. In essence, it is a mobile mortar," said the deputy commander of the battalion for armaments, presenting the M113.

The serviceman noted that the armored vehicle was not damaged and was in operational technical condition, meaning that the APC was simply abandoned. According to him, instead of the standard American 120 mm mortar, a mortar of the same caliber but of Soviet design was installed inside.

In addition, during the demonstration of captured vehicles, fighters of Battlegroup Tsentr took a ride on a Turkish Kirpi armored vehicle used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the platoon commander, Ukrainian soldiers abandoned the vehicle while fleeing, and Russian troops got it in almost perfect condition.

The Kirpi troop carrier, an armored vehicle of the Turkish Army and manufactured by the local company BMC, has a combat weight of 20 tons and can accommodate up to 13 personnel. According to open sources, Ukraine has received at least 200 such vehicles since 2022.

Another trophy demonstrated by the Russian Army was a British Pinzgauer 718 armored vehicle with a 6x6 wheel arrangement.

Watch Russian Sniper Units Perform Combat Missions in Special Op Zone

Russian snipers have a long and storied history in warfare. These highly skilled and disciplined soldiers play a crucial role in battles, often operating behind enemy lines, and demonstrate exceptional marksmanship.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage of sniper units conducting combat missions in the Kupyansk area. Snipers of the 1st Guards Tank Army covertly destroy key targets and troops from a distance of over 1,000 meters to support motorized rifle and tank units, and also to cover AGS grenade launchers, the ministry said.

Snipers are integrated into a combat unit or operate independently at varying distances from the enemy, depending on the mission and optics used.

Destroyed Ukrainian Abrams tank labeled ‘empty tin can’

An M1 Abrams heavy tank which was supplied to Ukraine by the US and recently destroyed by the Russian military proved to be ineffective because it had been stripped of all sensitive technologies, Yan Gagin, an adviser to the head of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), has said.

The newest assault vehicle based on the Abrams, destroyed by the “valiant”, was secretly transferred to the United States and was received personally by Zelensky

▪️It became known about its secret transfer to Kyiv in November 2023 from Zelensky’s proud posing against the background of the M1150 (pictured).

▪️Recall that yesterday tankers of the 21st Central Military District brigade with precise fire knocked out the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) - the newest assault vehicle of the US Army on the M1 Abrams chassis for mine clearance The M1150 attacked behind Stepov is quite unique and rare, it has an M58 MICLIC remote mine clearance missile launcher (analogous to the UR-77 - “Serpent Gorynych”).

▪️This loss is more painful for the enemy than even several destroyed Abrams tanks (which no one ever saw). With a shortage of engineering equipment and a large number of minefields, such armored vehicles are critical for engineering preparation for offensive actions.

Last week, shortly after the first Abrams was sighted on the battlefield in Donbass near the city of Avdeevka, which was recently liberated by Russian troops, videos of the tank in flames near the front line began to circulate on social media.

The destruction of the vehicle was later confirmed by the Defense Ministry in Moscow, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the West had been warned that its military equipment supplied to Kiev “will burn.”

In an interview with RIA Novosti on Saturday, Gagin claimed that there is nothing impressive about the Abrams, calling it “an empty tin can with a cannon.” According to the adviser, before the tank was handed over to Ukraine, “all innovations and secret technologies were removed from it so that Kiev would not get hold of them.”

Any Western equipment that arrives in Ukraine either lacks many features that standard models have, or is accompanied by Western specialists, Gagin continued. He claimed that this is especially true for sophisticated Western-made long-range missile systems, which he said are operated by foreign military personnel. “This guarantees that Ukraine will not steal those technologies,” he added.

While the US announced the delivery of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in January 2023, the shipment did not arrive until the autumn, and the vehicles were conspicuously absent from the front line until February. Some Western experts speculated that Kiev was saving them for a major offensive, or was reluctant to throw them at the strong Russian defenses in harsh weather and terrain conditions.

Washington initially planned to provide Kiev with the more modern M1 A2 version of the tank, but eventually opted to send the inferior A1s to speed up deliveries. In July, Politico described the tanks as “not new,” pointing out that the Abrams had been “stripped of their most sensitive technology, including in some cases secret depleted uranium armor.”