The resolve of the Ukrainian defenders is borne out by the fact the Russians have failed to meet any of their first day mission objectives. Of course, the Russians have the ability to throw more men and material into the grinder and given time, can eventually wear down the Ukrainian defenses. The question is if Putin will commit those forces and continue to pay the price in Russian soldier blood.
The photograph here shows Ukrainian soldiers outside Kharkiv, situated in positions to repel Russian attacks. The men are around a knocked out or disabled Russian MT-LB multi-purpose tracked vehicle. The MT-LB can carry eleven infantrymen but more often, it was used as a command vehicle, artillery tractor, or engineer/specialist vehicle. With a paltry 3mm to a maximum of 10mm of armor, the MT-LB is highly vulnerable to just about everything on the battlefield.
To the far left of the photograph is a Ukrainian BMP-1 or a imported Czechoslovak BVP-1 infantry fighting vehicle. The Ukrainian army also fields an upgraded version, the BMP-1U and BMP-1M “Shkval” (“Squall”) which is equipped with a new turret fitted with a KBA-2 30mm autocannon, 9M113 Konkurs (“Contest”) anti-tank guided missile, and a AGS-17 “Plamya” (“Flame”) 30mm automatic grenade launcher.
Originally posted on February 25, 2022.
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