Russia moves modified BTR-50 to the front line
After a two-month of quiet, Russian BTR-50s reappear in the footage on the way to the frontline positions of the invaders. The Russian propaganda media published the video. The released footage presents a column of mine rollers carrying armored vehicles, which include two BTR-50 armored personnel carriers.
The likely direction of the column is the southern front. The Russians modernized the depreserved and restored tracked armored personnel carriers from the 1950s by installing the ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun. Most likely, the Russian-made design is a kind of ersatz armored personnel carrier, the main task of which will be to transport infantry and fire cannons at ground targets.
These armored personnel carriers were previously repeatedly spotted at a training ground near the city of Urzuv, Zaporizhzhia region. Militarnyi reported in March that Russians were gradually restoring ancient Soviet models of armored vehicles after a long time in storage.
The photo below presents one of these armored personnel carriers, which was restored and equipped with a 12.7 mm caliber NSVT machine gun.
BTR-50PU of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, March 2023
The return to service of the museum exhibits of the 1950s was caused by exceptionally high losses of Russian troops in armored vehicles during the Russian-Ukrainian war. Nevertheless, the BTR-50 still poses a threat and can be effectively used against the Ukrainian military. The armored body of the armored personnel carrier is welded from rolled steel armor plates with an 8-13 mm thickness.
The armor can protect the crew in the middle from small debris and 7.62 mm small arms fire. The vehicle's crew consists of two people. The armored personnel carrier has a large landing compartment that can accommodate up to 20 people.
It is also capable of carrying up to 2 tons of cargo or an artillery system, for example, ZU-23-2 or ZPU-4, on the roof.
?-54/55
Russian T-54/T-55 tank reportedly in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. April 2023. Photo from social media
Soviet T-54/55 tanks from the Stalin era are another relic example of armored vehicles that the Russian Federation restores and supplies to the invader troops on the front lines.
Militarnyi discovered that at least part of these restored combat vehicles is already in the territory of the temporarily occupied regions of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.
On March 22, 2023, it was reported that Russia would be returning old Soviet tanks T-54 and T-55 from storage bases.