Ukrainian forces have put an advanced Russian BMPT Terminator armored fighting vehicle out of commission for the first time, according to the Ukrainian Marines.
The Terminator is a relatively new addition to Russia’s ground arsenal and only a small number of them are known to be in service, making this kill quite the trophy for the Ukrainian military.
Members of the Ukrainian Marine Corps’ 140th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion helped destroy the BMPT, according to a post on the service’s official Facebook page which states:
“Hasta la vista, baby! Soldiers of the 140th separate reconnaissance battalion of the marines found the detonated Russian BMPT “Terminator”, transferred the coordinates to the artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and further adjusted the fire. So, we see that this allegedly “invincible” and “unique” combat vehicle burns just as well as the rest of Russian scrap metal. Glory to the marines! Glory to Ukraine!”
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.
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.