58th Brigade receives BTR-4
12 November, 2024 BTR-4 driver, November 2024. Photo credits: 58th Brigade The 58th Motorized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was armed with Ukrainian-made BTR-4E armored personnel carriers.
The photos were published on the 58th Brigade's Facebook page. The brigade's press service released footage of its soldiers training with a BTR-4 armored personnel carrier, which was the first confirmation of the armored vehicles in service with the unit. Judging by the photo of the vehicle, whose elements were packed in shipping film, it was transferred to the military from the factory only recently.
The 58th Brigade became the fourth known unit to be equipped with these vehicles since 2022. Prior to that, these armored personnel carriers were used by the 56th Motorized Brigade, as well as the Spartan and Kara-Dag Brigades of the National Guard.
- BTR-4 driver, November 2024. Photo credits: 58th Brigade
- BTR-4 in service with the 58th Motorized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, November 2024.
Photo credits: 58th Brigade
Previously, the 58th Brigade's fleet consisted of International MaxxPro armored vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers, and T-64 and T-80 tanks. The new equipment should significantly enhance the brigade's infantry battalion capabilities by providing better firepower: the vehicles are equipped with a module with a 30mm gun, an automatic grenade launcher, and the Barrier anti-tank missile system. In June, on Army TV, a military television channel, the host, Junior Lieutenant Serhiy Lipko, shared that the production of BTR-4s was continuing despite Russian military strikes on Ukrainian industry.
He noted that the armored personnel carriers in service with the 56th Brigade were manufactured in 2023, which indicates the approximate timeframe for resuming production.
BTR-4E in service with the 56th Brigade of the Armed Forces, June 2024. Photo: 56th Brigade
The new vehicles actively participate in battles on the front line as carriers of heavy weapons. In particular, the guardsmen of the 15th Kara-Dag Brigade used them to drive Russian infantry out of the buildings on the outskirts of Selydove.
Nighttime thermal imaging optics and stabilized weapons enabled the crew to effectively engage Russian troops stationed in the buildings during night battles.
In July, the Come Back Alive Foundation transferred a batch of Ukrainian-made 82mm mortars to the 58th Brigade.