Ukraine created a brigade of tanks from Germany and Slovenia – Forbes
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Ukraine
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Ukraine created a brigade of tanks from Germany and Slovenia – Forbes

M-55S tanks
Source:  Forbes

Ukraine created a brigade of hybrid tanks received from Germany and Slovenia.

What is known about the brigade of hybrid tanks of the Armed Forces

It is noted that back in April 2022, Slovenia transferred its own old M-55S tanks to Ukraine in the amount of 28 units.

Almost 2 years later, the Ukrainian military is still trying to use them.

According to the journalists of the publication, these hybrid tanks combine the hulls and turrets of the Soviet T-55 tanks of the 1950s with modern Israeli fire control systems and the classic L7 105-millimeter main gun from Great Britain.

The M-55S is a decent tank - it has better fire control than most Russian tanks, plus armor that at 200 millimeters thick without adding dynamic armor blocks beats that of the German-made Leopard 1A5 tanks. But the M-55S is a strange tank, the publication says.

The 36-ton four-seater M-55S, which arrived in Ukraine at the end of 2022, formed a battalion that became part of the 47th mechanized brigade.

Military brigades, according to NATO standards, conducted training on these tanks during the fall and winter.

Before the planned counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the south of Ukraine in 2023, these tanks were modernized.

Representatives of the General Staff in Kyiv handed over 21 German-made Leopard 2A6 army tanks to the 47th Brigade.

M-55S tanks were sent to a less priority brigade - probably the 67th mechanized brigade.

What is known about the further fate of the M-55S tanks in service with the Armed Forces

It is noted that the 47th brigade took part in the counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine last year and suffered numerous losses in personnel and equipment.

The 67th Brigade held the line around Kreminnaya, losing one M-55S, apparently due to artillery fire.

Last autumn, the Ukrainian counteroffensive stopped - and the Russian army, sensing the weakness and exhaustion of the enemy, immediately launched its own offensive. Six months later, the Russians managed to seize the ruins of Avdiyivka - at the cost of huge costs.

Now both armies are exhausted. As hostilities wind down and both the Russians and Ukrainians try to rebuild their forces, the 27 surviving M-55S are apparently being reassigned, the publication said.

According to photos from the Militaryland project, the M-55S arrived at the new 5th Tank Brigade, which is one of the few intact brigades still in the Ukrainian Army Reserve.

There is evidence that the 5th Tank Brigade also has some of its approximately 200 40-ton four-seater Leopard 1A5s in service. The Leopard 1A5 has the same L7 gun as the M-55S.

Don't think of the 5th Tank Brigade as a mixed brigade with, say, one M-55C battalion and two Leopard 1A5 battalions. Think of it as a brigade with three battalions of L7 mobile guns firing the same ammunition, the authors of the publication emphasize.

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Ukraine
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British intelligence revealed the plans of the Russian army in the Donetsk direction

UK Ministry of Defence
British intelligence revealed the plans of the Russian army in the Donetsk direction

Russian troops have once again intensified attacks on Velika Novosilka in Donetsk region. This is not the enemy's first attempt to capture this settlement.

Points of attention

  • Russian forces have intensified attacks on Velika Novosilka in Donetsk region, trying to advance north to establish control over neighboring villages.
  • Ukrainian forces successfully pushed Russian troops south in 2023, indicating the possible stubbornness of the defense.
  • According to intelligence data, over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 199 combat clashes in various directions, trying to wedge into the defensive positions of the Ukrainian troops.
  • The occupiers carried out numerous air strikes, artillery shelling, and assaults near various settlements, including Kharkiv, Lyman, Kramatorsk, and other areas.
  • The defenders successfully repelled many enemy attacks in various directions, including Novopavlovsk and Kursk, demonstrating their readiness to defend their positions.

British intelligence assessed the Russian advance in the Donetsk region

According to intelligence, Russian forces have increased pressure on the central sector of the front. In particular, in the center of the Donetsk region, Russian troops have intensified operations against the city of Velyka Novosilka.

The occupiers are trying to advance north to establish control over the villages of Neskuchne and Vremivka, the latter of which is located west of Velyka Novoselka.

British intelligence recalled that a previous attempt to capture the city in the summer of 2022 ended in failure. In 2023, Ukrainian forces successfully pushed the Russian military south.

Russia's current offensive in this direction began after it captured other cities in the east — in particular, Vugledar in October 2024 and Kurakhovo in January 2025, the summary emphasized.

What is the situation at the front?

As the General Staff notes, 199 combat clashes were recorded over the past 24 hours.

Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces' aviation, missile forces, and artillery have struck eight areas of concentration of personnel, weapons, and military equipment, two air defense stations, one control point, one fuel and ammunition depot, one electronic warfare station, and six other important enemy targets.

  • In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy stormed the positions of our troops in the Vovchansk area six times.

  • Over the past day, the enemy attacked 11 times in the Lyman direction. They tried to penetrate our defenses near the settlements of Zeleny Hay, Pershotravneve, Kopanky, Novoyehorivka, Novosadove, Novolubivka, and Zarichne.

  • In the Kramatorsk direction, the invaders attacked 11 times in the areas of Stupochy, Predtechyny, and Chasovy Yar.

  • The enemy carried out twenty attacks in the Toretsk direction in the areas of Toretsk, Krymske, and Shcherbinivka.

In the Pokrovsky direction, our defenders stopped 98 offensive actions of the aggressor towards the settlements of Vodyane Druge, Zelene Pole, Malynivka, Pokrovsk, Kotlyne, Zvirovo, Udachne, Novoandreyevka, Elizavetivka, Promin, Lysivka, Zelene, Shevchenko, Uspenivka, Slovianka, Andriyevka, Dachne, Ulakly and Yantarne.

  • The defense forces repelled 19 enemy attacks in the Novopavlivske direction. The occupiers most actively tried to advance near Velyka Novoselka.

  • Over the past 24 hours, 12 clashes took place in the Kursk direction, the enemy carried out five air strikes with five guided bombs and launched 464 artillery shells, including 18 from multiple rocket launcher systems.

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Ukraine
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Kursk operation. The Russian army uses "ridiculous" technology from World War II

The Russian army resorts to old methods of warfare
Source:  Forbes

Forbes columnist David Axe drew attention to the fact that Russian occupiers in the Kursk region began using a long-forgotten World War II technology to cross rivers.

Points of attention

  • Modified BTR-D amphibious vehicles used by the Russian army remain vulnerable to Ukrainian weapons.
  • Ukrainian troops are actively attacking bridges and spans in the Kursk region, blocking the enemy's advance.

The Russian army resorts to old methods of warfare

As the expert recalled, during World War II, some armies, including the British, attached metal spans to the upper part of tank chassis and used the resulting "funny bridges" to quickly cross gaps.

Despite the fact that 80 years have passed since then, the Russian army does not shy away from using “ridiculous” technologies to retake its own territories from the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

In the Kursk region of western Russia, Russian airborne troops deploy modified BTR-D amphibious vehicles in the same way: piling what looks like wooden flooring onto 13-ton tracked vehicles and rolling them into rivers. As they sink into muddy riverbeds, the vehicles’ makeshift surfaces act as bridges, says David Axe.

The analyst draws attention to the fact that the BTR-D are most active on the western edge of the Kursk salient.

What is important to understand is that in order for Russian soldiers to attack Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in and around the village of Dar'ino, they must first cross the Snagost River.

What this technology looked like during World War II (Photo: Imperial War Museum photo)

Why the Russian Army's Technology Is Not Effective

As David Axe notes, in the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Defense Forces regularly attack civilian bridges and any conventional or pontoon spans built by Russian engineers.

In addition, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not forget to fire on the bridge transporters specially built by the Russians.

Although the BTR-Ds are as vulnerable to Ukrainian mines, missiles, artillery and drones as any combat vehicle, they are fast and can reach road speeds of around 40 miles per hour, making them less vulnerable than permanent bridges or slow engineering vehicles, the analyst writes.

According to the latest data, since November, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have shot down at least two Russian BTR-Ds.

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