Ukrainian Armed Forces destroy Russian Meteorit demining system in Kharkiv region, the 10th since war started

Operational command "South" shared the statement. 

They note that this is far from the first such trophy on the account of our fighters. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Russian occupation forces, more than a dozen similar enemy vehicles have been captured and destroyed.

UR-77 "Meteorit", also known in the Russian Federation as "Zmei Horynych", is a fairly old Soviet demining installation. It was developed and manufactured at the Kharkiv Tractor Plant back in the second half of the 1970s. The machine is a basic chassis from the 2C1 "Gvozdika" self-propelled gun, on which a tower launcher with guides for two missiles, compartments for a detonation cable and a control panel were installed.

The main purpose of the UR-77 is to create passages in anti-tank minefields with a width of 6 to 14 meters due to the creation of a powerful shock wave that affects mine detonators. For this, special charges about 90 meters long, which resemble fire hoses, are used.

"However, in a real combat situation, it is rarely used in this way. The explosion of the charge does not give a 100% guarantee that the area is cleared of mines. In particular, mines that have double-attack detonators or tension-action anti-personnel mines may remain intact. Also, the explosive wave does not react to magnetic  and infrared mine detonators. That is why Russians most often use the UR-77 for shelling the civilian infrastructure of Ukrainian cities," the military added.