Vladimir Putin ridiculed by MoD for deploying tanks ‘designed to be TRACTORS’ with ‘just a machine gun for protection’
VLADIMIR Putin has been ridiculed by the Ministry of Defence for deploying tanks "designed to be tractors" with just a machine gun for protection.
The MoD also slapped down Mad Vlad's claim that Russia had "not even started" in Ukraine.
Britain's defence ministry confirmed Russia was deploying "worn out and lightly armed" MT-LB personnel carriers "long considered unsuitable for most front-line infantry transport roles".
"It was originally designed in the Fifties as a tractor to pull artillery, has very limited armour and only mounts a machine gun for protection," the intelligence update reported in the read.
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The outdated tank was designed as a Cold War "amphibious tractor" capable of carrying 10 soldiers in its cramped and airless hold, as well as a driver and a gunner.
It comes as Moscow deployed its feared Arctic Fleets' 200th Motorised Infantry Brigade to plug a manpower gap in eastern Ukraine.
Rob Lee, a war studied student at King's College London, said the brigade had been involved in a battle near Kharkiv and lost a large amount of equipment, the paper reports.
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He said the brigade was now made up of " reservists, volunteers, and servicemen from military police, coastal defence units and sailors
from ships".
This cobbled-together deployment reflects the dire compromises Russia has had to make to reinforce their armies in Donbas four months into a war that's believed to have killed more than 30,000 of its troops.
It comes months after Mad Vlad's troops went on the record complaining bitterly about their shoddy equipment, including flimsy helmets and useless first-aid kits.
In a viral video, a soldier crushes a Russian helmet with just his foot to show how poor quality they are.
Putin's mercenaries have also shared pictures of their inferior first-aid kit alongside the Ukrainian one, to show the contrast in equipment.
Russian troops have been sent to war with a kit appearing to contain nothing more than several instruction manuals and something to tie a tourniquet.
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Russian troops who allegedly posted the picture on social media complained: "This is what Putin and Shoigu brought us," referring to the defence minister Sergei Shoigu.
The photo's original source is unclear, but it's believed it was first shared on several popular Russian Telegram accounts and blogs, including one which is crowdfunding to buy Putin's soldiers equipment.
