Photos posted on the pro-Russian “Уголок Ситха (Ugolok Sitha)” Telegram channel on Monday showed Russian troops deployed somewhere in Ukraine posing alongside an armored vehicle, which the military issues website Militarniy identified as a Chinese ZFB-05 Xinxing “Tiger” 4 x 4 armored personnel carrier (APC).
The vehicle which the manufacturer says is designed for both military and police applications, offers protection from small arms fire. It has a two-man crew and can carry nine fully equipped troops.
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The social media images show how the vehicles have been modified and prepared for battlefield use with anti-drone protection provided on the hood, windshield, sides, and over a top-mounted machine gun turret and camouflage netting.
This type of vehicle is the same as those that the Chechen “Akhmat” unit, part of Russia’s National Guard, showed off in June 2023 – some of which were also fitted with machine gun turrets.
A video released at the time showed eight of the Tigers, part of a total of 128 such vehicles that had been purchased, according to the unit’s spokesperson. It was not clear whether the vehicle seen on Monday was part of that or a new consignment.
On Aug. 20 this year, the Russian “Автобусы и вообще (Buses and Everything)” Telegram channel showed an image of a black, machine gun turret toting, armored vehicle emblazoned with the logo of Moscow’s metro service.
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According to the post, the vehicle had been purchased along with several domestically produced armored personnel carriers (APCs) to strengthen security around the capital’s rapid transport systems by developing anti-terrorist defenses necessitated by the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack that left 145 dead and scores wounded in March.
The vehicle was identified as the Chinese Dongfeng EQ2091XFB, which the manufacturers describe as “an all-terrain anti-terrorist military vehicle.” It is only sold to bona fide “law enforcement agencies.”
The model seen in the social media images is estimated to have cost around $250,000 by the pro-Kremlin Tsargrad blogger, who adds that the vehicle is registered as “civilian special equipment” and bears the type of license plate reserved for tractors and agricultural machinery.
The appearance of these types of vehicles undermines continuing Chinese claims, including a statement by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Wang Wenbin, in May, that Beijing has not, is not, and will not, provide any military or other assistance to Russia for its war.
This followed earlier reports that Russia’s Armed Forces were purchasing large numbers of the Chinese Desertcross-1000-3 all-terrain vehicles for which there has been extensive evidence of their use on the battlefield in Ukraine.
It has to be said that these Chinese vehicles are widely sold and used by security forces in South America, Central Asia and Africa. It is possible, therefore, that its assertion that it has not supplied military materiel to Moscow could be accurate in that the vehicles could have been obtained through third parties – with or without Beijing’s knowledge and approval.
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