Ukrainian soldiers seize Russian armored infantry fighting vehicle

They wrote about this on their Facebook page.

Oleksandr, senior mechanic and experienced soldier, recounts what happened:

“After our 128th Brigade freed the village from the Russians, their armored vehicle platoon started to attack one of our units. They were regularly attacking one of our groups with tanks and armored fighting vehicles from three kilometers away. And to put an end to this, our artillery took care of the Russians.

“After that we investigated the place and saw destroyed enemy equipment - three armored infantry fighting vehicles and a T-72 tank with a blown up tower. Its ammunition detonated after our projectile landed.

“No Russians were there, they quickly retreated, leaving their vests, helmets, boots, documents, MREs and other personal stuff behind.

“And a bit further away from all the equipment there was a BMP-3 armored infantry fighting vehicle. It probably was on its way to help, but came under our counterattack. Our projectile damaged the front armor, but overall it was untouched.

“So we decided to take it with us. Hooked it up with our KETL Tractor Vehicle and towed it back. And this is how we got our trophy BMP-3.”

Another man called Oleksandr is the commander of the unit, a junior sergeant, added:

“When we were driving there, we got serious jitters - we couldn’t be sure if this wasn’t an ambush or we might get attacked by enemy artillery. But we drove there - five soldiers and our Major, and we got that BMP out.”

“Oleksandr and I have served together in the army since 2017, and we know that we can rely on each other,” he said.

“My duty is to evacuate and repair the damaged military equipment. And I’ve never had to work with a BMP-3 before. It’s a modern Russian vehicle, we don’t have anything like that. It’s modernized, and has way better armor and weapons. BIgger, heavier, but smoother on the road, almost as if you changed a Zhiguli for a Mercedes.”

“Now the armored infantry fighting vehicle is in our repair battalion, and then we’ll take it with us - it’ll shoot the same guns, but in a different direction.”