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Imagery from Ukraine shows how US-donated gear is making a difference in the war.
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An official described how a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle took a direct hit but kept going.
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Tough vehicles like the Bradley are stronger than Ukraine’s own equipment, and may give it an edge.
A series of photos shared by Ukraine show how the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles donated by the US are proving their worth as they join the fight against Russia.
The photos were shared Thursday morning on Telegram by Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister.
Her post showed a beaten-up Bradley fresh from battle.
The IFV was part of Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade, which has been involved in heavy fighting during the recent Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Per Maliar, the vehicle took a direct hit from a Russian Grad rocket system — but was tough enough to keep going while also protecting everyone inside.
After being hit, the vehicle’s crew evacuated, and the driver was able to get it to safety and put out the fire, Maliar said.
One photo showed the scorched vehicle, which she said was being repaired.
She also shared images of its crew, below, and a close-up of the driver, seen above.
Observers have noted heavy losses among Bradley IFVs in Ukraine, as Insider’s Mia Jankowicz reported earlier this week.
As of Thursday, the open-source site Oryx, which tracks visual evidence of losses, reported 16 Bradleys either destroyed, or damaged and abandoned, on the battlefield.
Losing the equipment is obviously worse than not losing it — especially as the reported losses constitute a large chunk of the 109 Bradleys sent to Ukraine by the US.
But, Maliar noted, the point of the IFVs is not to be invincible but to protect the soldiers inside so they can survive to fight again.
The fast-moving, gun-mounted vehicles can provide some firepower — even posing a threat to tanks — while moving troops to where they need to be.
Analysts have noted that Bradleys are significantly better at doing this than the flimsier Soviet BMP vehicles which both Ukraine and Russia have deployed extensively during the conflict.
“Russians — they don’t take crew survivability as seriously as we take crew survivability, and that’s really important for the Ukrainians,” retired US Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli told Task and Purpose.
Bradleys, Chiarelli said, “provide tremendous overwatch to infantry.”
Over the weekend, during fighting near the small city of Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, one Bradley took only minor damage from a direct hit, and its soldiers quickly evacuated almost unharmed, NBC News reported.
It’s unclear whether this was the same Bradley Maliar mentioned. NBC also reported that other Bradleys were damaged or partially destroyed.
Ukrainian soldier Anton Borshch told NBC that the vehicles were making a major difference. “My guys ride a Bradley, they calmly clear the landing and can also evacuate dead and wounded from the battlefield,” he said.
The resilience of the US-donated equipment, in short, could be giving Ukrainian forces an edge on the battlefield.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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