Soldiers of the Third Army Corps converted Soviet BTR-60 armored personnel carriers into unmanned robotic kamikaze complexes. Remotely controlled armored vehicles loaded with explosives were used during the offensive operation "Vivaldi" in the Liman direction.
Soldiers of the Third Army Corps converted Soviet BTR-60 armored personnel carriers into unmanned robotic kamikaze complexes. Remotely controlled armored vehicles loaded with explosives were used during the offensive operation "Vivaldi" in the Liman direction.
This was reported by the press service of the Third Army Corps.
To break through the enemy's defenses in the settlements of Nove and Katerynivka, the Ukrainian military sent two unmanned BTR-60s behind enemy lines. The vehicles entered Russian positions under the guise of reinforcements, after which the enemy's command and observation posts and communication nodes were blown up.
According to the military, the power of the explosion of the detonated armored vehicles was comparable to that of a KAB aerial bomb. As a result of the maneuver, the launch positions of the Russian Rubicon unit's drones were also hit.
"Trojan APCs" - The Troika turned old equipment into unmanned kamikaze robots and blew up the occupiers!
— Third Army Corps (@ab3army) September 29, 2026
During Operation Vivaldi, soldiers of the Third Assault Brigade implemented a unique sabotage maneuver by Commander Andriy Biletsky in the villages of Novye and Katerynivka in the Lyman region.… pic.twitter.com/pCWCLLtRhX
"The enemy was convinced that the main direction of the strike was Shandrygolovye - Zelena Dolyna. This forced him to senselessly burn his reserves in counterattacks in this direction. The Russians missed the real strike, which was focused on taking Novye," said the commander of the Third Army Corps, Brigadier General Andrey Biletsky.
In total, during the operation, the corps forces managed to regain 176 km² of territory. According to military estimates, the total Russian losses in the three stages amounted to about 5,000 people, of whom more than 250 surrendered in the final stage.
As Defense Express notes , the use of outdated armored vehicles as kamikaze drones has happened before. In particular, in 2023, the Russian military directed explosive-laden MT-LBs and T-54/55 tanks towards Defense Forces positions.
However, in the Russian version, the crew manually accelerated and guided the armored vehicle, jumping out of it on the move, which significantly limited maneuverability and accuracy. Instead, the Ukrainian military equipped the BTR-60 with full remote control means — presumably using Starlink satellite communication, which was previously used during the conversion of pickup trucks and BRDM-2s into NRCs.
