This improvised armor is Russia’s feverish effort to protect itself from incoming munitions such as artillery, anti-tank missiles or small drones carrying explosives.
While both militaries have used this tactic, Russia in recent weeks has introduced an odd-looking, but apparently effective, innovation that some observers of the Ukrainian war call the “tank turtle.”
It resembles a turtle
The portal “Business Insider” reports that since the beginning of May, videos with the design of a Russian tank turtle have increasingly appeared on social networks, which are shared by open source intelligence accounts and experts, often using the stories of Ukrainian soldiers.
The tank is aptly named, as it is covered in metal armor on all sides, except for the front, where the barrel protrudes. This entity resembles a turtle.
Rob Lee, a senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy Research, found that the Tank Turtle was involved in a mid-April attack by the Russian 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade on the city of Krasnohorivka in eastern Ukraine.
R. Lee hinted that this unusual tank can perform a “mine-clearing function”.
Crazy customization
“I know people laugh at it, but I don’t think it’s a crazy fit. “The Russians are adapting to the specific conditions of the battlefield, where Ukraine does not have enough anti-tank mines and artillery,” R. Lee said.
“So sacrificing surveillance and the ability to rotate the turret on one tank in one squad, which can simultaneously jam many FPV (ed. – FPV is a drone that allows the pilot to see and control its actions) frequencies, makes sense,” the expert added.
A tank turtle was also spotted further north along the front line during the Russian offensive against Chasiv Yar, a Ukrainian town west of Bakhmut.
One Ukrainian Telegram channel, which posted footage of a tank turtle rolling over the weekend, noted that Ukraine had to use multiple drones to kill one vehicle.
“Everyone laughs at their barrels, but in fact they work as they should,” wrote the Ukrainian channel, which is owned by a member of the Ukrainian service.
