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Mar 22 21 tweets 6 min read Read on X
1/ Russia's shortage of armoured vehicles and lack of an analogue for the M113 APC or M2A2 Bradley IFV has led soldiers to weld troop-carrying 'booths' onto rusting Soviet-era MT-LB armoured fighting vehicles. It highlights the Russian defence industry's failure to adapt. ⬇️ Image
2/ The MT-LB, built in Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland from the early 1970s, is designed to carry 11 men in addition to a driver and gunner. However, like other Soviet-era APCs, it suffers from low headroom and narrow exit doors which slow down disembarcation from the vehicle. Image
3/ This has often been a problem for Russian forces in Ukraine, as it leaves disembarking troops highly vulnerable to enemy fire. In one incident recorded by the Ukrainians, an entire Russian assault squad was wiped out in seconds as it exited its MT-LB.
4/ The MT-LB's light armour (only 3-14 mm thick) also makes the vehicle itself highly vulnerable to drones and direct enemy fire. It is incapable of resisting the Bradley's 25mm autocannon, let alone tank fire.
5/ As the Russian 'Military Informant' Telegram channel notes, "The production of new armoured vehicles is not capable of sufficiently covering the heavy losses incurred in them, and the number of vehicles removed from storage that are suitable for combat operations is becoming…
6/ …fewer and fewer – many types of equipment in the 1st and 2nd storage categories [i.e. in the best conditions, generally under cover] have already been exhausted, and those stored in less acceptable conditions require more and more time for major repairs and modernisation."
7/ Russian troops have frequently complained about the weakness of Russian armoured personnel carriers, calling them "complete shit that burns and kills our soldiers". They have attempted to upgrade existing vehicles with home-made armour.
8/ This is the result, as 'Military Informant' notes, of the Russian military-industrial complex's failure to adapt to the needs of the Ukraine war. As another Russian warblogger has commented, failed projects like the Armata tank have taken priority.
9/ "Over the years of war, neither the industry nor the Ministry of Defence have been able to give birth to a notional analogue of the M113 APC for these purposes, and the USSR did not produce such equipment at all, which excludes its presence in storage bases.
10/ "Due to the fact that there is simply nowhere to quickly get such equipment from, and no one is going to produce it, the role of assault APCs has to be played by the MT-LB, which is completely unsuitable for this.
11/ "[It is] not adapted either in terms of its armour, or in terms of mine protection, or in terms of the convenience of placing and landing troops."
12/ Additionally, as 'Military Informant' points out, drones have fundamentally changed the environment in which troops disembark:

"At the same time, due to the dominance of drones over the battlefield, the tactics of using armored vehicles have also undergone serious changes."
13/ "Now, APCs and IFVs do not fight together with infantry, but try to deliver them to the dismounting line as quickly as possible, and then leave the danger zone as quickly as possible so as not to become a victim of a drone."
14/ While in many cases this has been achieved by having the troops ride on the roof of the vehicle, this leaves the soldiers extremely vulnerable to drone and small arms attacks, which can wipe out entire squads before they can even disembark.
15/ The Russians have found a solution of sorts by welding a metal 'booth' to the top of MT-LBs, "by cutting off part of the roof and placing it on top of a higher structure, allowing the equipped landing force to be more comfortably accommodated, and, if necessary,…
16/ …quickly leave the vehicle under fire. Note that even this simple modernisation is carried out by repair units in the army and by the crews of the vehicles themselves, and not at factories."
17/ The booths have the advantage of allowing quick disembarkation and some protection from shell splinters and small arms fire. They are still very vulnerable to drones, however, and obliterate the MT-LB's low profile.
18/ As 'Military Informant' complains, this highlights the fact that military equipment makers "often do not care at all about what the front actually needs, and the leadership of the Ministry of Defence does not understand this."
19/ "We have long and often written about the current situation and the need in the army for both simple front-line armored personnel carriers and their heavily armored versions. But, unfortunately, the situation has not yet moved on from an impasse." /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Apr 30
1/ A wounded Russian soldier has recorded a nude video complaining that his commanders are "freaks who maim and kill our soldiers". He says that they use men as 'expendable material', inflicting huge casualties on their own side, and that medical facilities are terrible. ⬇️
2/ The unnamed soldier is currently a member of an assault battalion in the 1307th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 77860), which he says is a "bloody regiment" used as a penal unit for 'undesirables'.
3/ He joined the Russian army in March 2022 as a member of the BARS (Combat Army Reserve) and fought near Kharkiv in the early days of the war, receiving an award for bravery. Casualties were extremely high, with only 32 out of 500 men surviving. He was wounded himself.
Read 19 tweets
Apr 30
1/ The career of a Russian UAV operator, as described by a Russian warblogger:

"A young man of about 25 years old is going to sign a contract, hoping to become a UAV operator. He has an engineering education and a couple of years of work experience after graduating." Image
2/ "He is shoved into assaults, without any discussion. They ignore his request to enroll him as a drone operator, they ignore his higher education. The training before the first battle is less than 14 days.
3/ "The guy ends up storming a populated area, where he receives a moderately severe wound to the leg (dropped from a copter).

A month later, slightly healed, he is returned to the regiment, where he is listened to and sent to a newly formed UAV platoon.
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Apr 29
1/ A leaked order suggests that the Russian army is concerned about how many of its soldiers will leave once mobilisation and stop-loss orders have ended. It follows concerns expressed by Russian warbloggers that much of the army may quit after a ceasefire or peace deal. ⬇️ Image
Image
2/ The order, shown above, instructs commanders to "organise and conduct a survey of military personnel of all categories about their intentions (desires) to continue military service under contract after completing their military service, taking into account the proposed…
3/ …increase in salary (from 100 thousand rubles and above) and the expansion of the list of social guarantees provided (free travel to and from, basic leave for military personnel and their family members, increased monetary compensation for the rental of housing, etc.)."
Read 12 tweets
Apr 29
1/ The Russian government has reportedly ordered hundreds of public sector employees in Moscow to give up their days off and watch the skies over the capital for Ukrainian drones during the 9 May Victory Day commemoration. ⬇️
2/ On 3 May 2023, a Ukrainian drone hit the Kremlin (shown in the video above). In an evident attempt to prevent a repeat, the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reports that the authorities have "forced hundreds of public sector employees to patrol the streets around the clock...
3/ ... and watch the sky to watch out for UAVs. Employees of various state budget institutions and other organizations subordinate to the mayor's office have already been briefed, they have been divided into groups and have been given overtime schedules.
Read 8 tweets
Apr 28
1/ Russian soldiers' chances of being evacuated from the battlefield are now virtually non-existent in many parts of the front line, according to a Russian military doctor. The prevalence of Ukrainian drones, cluster shells and remote mining is blamed. ⬇️
2/ The 'Visiting Doc' Telegram channel describes how the work of evacuation groups in many frontline areas is no longer possible:
3/ "We have gradually come to the point that the story that used to be [present] in some areas has become a mass phenomenon.

The work of evacuation groups on the front line has practically ceased.
Read 20 tweets
Apr 27
1/ A young Russian soldier who has fled to France has spoken of life as a stormtrooper. He says that supplies are routinely stolen, almost everyone on combat missions ends up wounded or dead, and those who return uninjured are shot by their own side as suspected deserters. ⬇️ Image
2/ Kamil M., who used the call sign 'Virus' while doing his compulsory service in the 15th Motorised Rifle Regiment (military unit 31134), described his military service in an interview with Novaya Gazeta Europa.
3/ Kamil found his compulsory conscript service to be a desultory experience. He was put to work painting the grass green in the spring and removing water with a shovel. He says that "everywhere around there was laziness" and he ended up doing his commander's work for him.
Read 34 tweets

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