Russian armored vehicle destroyed in Kursk days after deployment

In an October 21 message on Telegram the pro-Moscow mil blogger “Ugolok Sitha” happily announced the arrival of the Sarmat-3 vehicle, used by Russian special forces and airborne troops, on the battlefield in Kursk. Photos on the site allegedly showed the vehicle in action near the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region – the first confirmed sightings of this new vehicle.

On Saturday, October 26, the Ukrainian mil blogger “Lost_WarinUA” spoke just as cheerfully announced that one of the vehicles was destroyed in the village of Glushkovo in the Kursk region. What made the announcement even sweeter from a Ukrainian perspective was the fact that Russian commentator Alexei Zolotariov originally identified the hulk as “a piece of burnt-out Ukrainian metal.”

According to local witnesses, the vehicle was ambushed after hitting a landmine, killing one person and seriously injuring at least one person. The incident highlights the vulnerability of Russian forces to mines and improvised explosive devices as they try to launch their counter-offensive against Ukrainian defensive positions in the occupied areas of the Kursk region.

The Sarmat-3 is the latest version of the family of lightweight armored military vehicles that Russia’s OKB Technika agency began developing more than a decade ago. It was submitted for review in 2016 by the Russian Armed Forces, which called for adjustments, many of which involved replacing components from Western countries with domestically produced “import substitutes.”

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In 2018, the modified version, now called the LSTS-1943 Sarmat-2, was presented at the Armiya annual military forum and again submitted for evaluation, but the Ministry of Defense called for further improvements. These were incorporated into what is now the LSTS-1944 Sarmat-3, which was finally accepted in 2022. It is available in both a closed version, the Sarmat-3ME, which can carry eight fully equipped personnel or can be used for casualty evacuation. transporting two wounded soldiers on stretchers.

The light version can accommodate four soldiers or a load of 900 kilograms internally and up to 100 kilograms on an unprotected rear platform. The version you see in the Kursk combat zone would have been equipped with additional armor, which didn’t seem to help in this case.

The light version could reach speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) with a range of 500 kilometers (300 miles). The vehicle can be armed with 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine guns, AGS-17 grenade launchers or the Kornet anti-tank missile system.