Initially ridiculed for their appearance, the Russian armed forces now seem to be increasingly relying on their “tortoise shells”.
One photo allegedly shows a whole column of modified armored vehicles attacking a small town in the east of Donetsk Oblast.
Russian war blogger Boris Roshin shared the scene on the Telegram platform. According to him, the column allegedly brought paratroopers into the city. One of the tanks is said to have left the city again despite the violent counterattacks from the Ukrainian side.
A Ukrainian source published another turtle shell offensive near Bakhmut and wrote that the additional armor worked well. The defense had to use many FPV drones to destroy a single tank.
A few weeks ago, Russian armed forces began providing their tanks with additional protective coverings. This is intended to protect the combat vehicles against attacks by FPV drones from the air. The resulting shape earned them the nickname “turtle shell”.
The current footage shows that the strategy appears to be working. The modified tanks pose an additional challenge for Ukraine, which continues to struggle with a shortage of ammunition and anti-tank weapons.
