Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the first Russian BTR-50 near Avdiyivka

15 October, 2023 Russian BTR-50 and T-64BV near Avdiyivka. Source: Ukraine Weapons Tracker The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the first Russian BTR-50 near Avdiyivka.

Ukraine Weapons Tracker posted a photo of it on its Twitter account. A damaged T-64BV is standing next to an overturned BTR-50. Most likely, the vehicle belonged to the remnants of one of the army corps of the so-called L/DPR.

In February 2023, Militarnyi reported that Russia was transporting old Soviet BTR-50P armored personnel carriers to the combat zone in Ukraine.

Russian BTR-50P armored personnel carriers during transportation in Ukraine, February 2023

Later, it was reported that the Russians modernized the decommissioned and restored tracked armored personnel carriers by installing a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon or an NSV machine gun. These armored personnel carriers were previously repeatedly spotted at a training ground near the city of Urzuf, Zaporizhzhia region. The Russians using Soviet BTR-50 is most likely due to the shortage of modern armored vehicles and the need to quickly compensate for the losses inflicted by the Ukrainian troops.

BTR-50

BTR-50 is an amphibious armored personnel carrier developed in 1952 on the chassis of the PT-76 light amphibious tank.

The then-new APC was adopted in 1954. It had been mass-produced until 1970, with the number of combat vehicles produced reaching 6,500 units.

BTR-50PU of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, March 2023

The armored hull of the combat vehicle is welded from steel rolled armor plates with an 8-13-mm thickness. Its armor can protect the crew from small debris and shelling of light 7.62mm-caliber rifle weapons.

The BTR-50 crew consists of two people. Its large squad compartment accommodates up to 20 soldiers. A cargo weighing up to 2 tons can be fixed on an armored personnel carrier.

Relics of the "Stalinist era"

Another representatives of the distant past are ?-54 and ?-55 tanks, which the Russians started to return to service in March 2023.

Soviet ?-54/?-55 tanks can be distinguished from later ?-62 by the characteristic "gap" between the front first and second support rink. Another distinctive feature is the muzzle compensator at the end of the D-10T tank gun barrel and the specific convex radiator "cap" on the turret roof.

Russian T-54/T-55 tank, as stated, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. April 2023.

Image from social media

The Soviet army adopted the first ?-54s in the second half of the 1940s, and ?-55 was adopted in 1958. After the collapse of the USSR, these tanks in large numbers were on the balance of the Russian army and were concentrated in the Eastern Military District. The last ?-55s were withdrawn from service only in 2010.

In addition, evidence of the use of ?-12 100mm anti-tank guns by the Russians was recently published online.