Images appeared to show Russia's "Terminator" armored vehicle after a direct hit.
The "Terminator," designed to support armor and infantry units, can engage three targets at once.
Russia has begun its new offensive in eastern Ukraine, according to one of Ukraine's military commanders.
Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Ukraine claims to have destroyed a prized Russian BMP-T armored vehicle, nicknamed the "Terminator," in Luhansk.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, shared several aerial photos appearing to show the vehicle being blown up and destroyed on his Telegram channel.
He said that Russian propagandists had boasted about the vehicle and said it was impossible to destroy, and shared a clip from Russian state TV showing off the vehicle in the forest near the Russian-occupied city of Kreminna in Luhansk.
"So many beautiful words about the car being almost impossible to destroy….almost," Haidai wrote on Telegram.
The "Terminator" was designed to support other armor and infantry units and can engage three different targets at once using its four weapons operators.
Its weapons include twin 30 mm guns, four supersonic Ataka anti-tank missiles with a range of almost four miles, two AG-17D grenade launchers, and one coaxial 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun.
The vehicle was first designed in the late 1980s, and is made by Russian company Uralvagonzavod, the Russian military's leading tank producer. The Russian army purchased only 10 of the vehicles in 2017.
While impressive in its design, some Russian reports have suggested that the vehicles are more style over substance.
Forbes reporter David Axe noted that losing one of the vehicles would be an embarrassment to Russia, as the vehicles are media darlings often pointed to as proof of Russia's ability to still produce cutting-edge armor.
The single company of vehicles was deployed to Luhansk, where Russia appears to have just begun its long-feared latest offensive, Haidai said on Thursday.
Haidai said that Ukrainian forces have "repulsed a large number of attacks" there, as Russian forces have intensified attacks around attempts to move westwards from Kreminna.
radish_recoup on February 11st, 2023 at 16:25 UTC »
if I've learned anything from this war is that I don't want to be anywhere near a tank on a battlefield
BronyJoe1020 on February 11st, 2023 at 14:55 UTC »
Eh, to call it "advanced" is an exaggeration. It's a rather new vehicle, yes, but it's basically two of the guns from the BMP-2, the same ATGMs as the BMP-2M, and some grenade launchers on an old T-72 hull. It's a fire support vehicle mainly meant for assisting armor in urban environments, especially against high-angle infantry AT teams.
None of its tech is particularly advanced, it's just a combination of 80/90's era tech into a single, niche vehicle.
markedbeamazed on February 11st, 2023 at 14:30 UTC »
Russia keeps hyping up it's equipment but can never back it up due to poor training and corruption.