Desperate to keep up its assaults, Russia is deploying increasingly bizarre hybrid armored vehicles, including tank-based troop carriers cobbled together from outdated hardware.
But these makeshift machines — dubbed “Frankenstein tanks” — are proving just as vulnerable as standard infantry carriers, as seen in a recent battlefield failure in Ukraine.
This was reported by the WP Tech.
Trapped in the Trenches
A newly surfaced video shows a Russian armored personnel carrier (APC) mounted on a T-80BW tank chassis getting stuck in a Ukrainian anti-tank ditch.
The vehicle, unable to free itself, forced its crew and the accompanying infantry to abandon it, leaving it as an easy target for Ukrainian drones and artillery.
The incident highlights a major weakness of these improvised war machines.
Unlike conventional tanks, which have turrets that allow for better battlefield visibility, these turret-less APC conversions rely solely on the driver’s limited forward-facing view. This makes them highly vulnerable to obstacles, such as trenches and tank traps, with no way to maneuver out if assistance isn’t nearby.
Russia’s Scrap Yard Army
The reason behind Russia’s reliance on these hybrid machines is simple—they’re running out of proper infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and armored personnel carriers (APCs).
For months, Moscow has been pulling rusting military hardware from deep-storage depots, but the available stock is rapidly depleting. To keep up with battlefield losses, Russian forces are now:
Salvaging wrecked tanks—often combining three damaged vehicles to assemble one functional unit
Swapping turrets—such as mounting a T-72B3 turret onto a T-90M hull
Converting tank hulls into APCs—by removing the turret and adding a superstructure
These tank-based APCs are covered with Kontakt-1 reactive armor and anti-drone netting, offering some protection against artillery fragments and FPV drones.
However, their size and weight make them poorly suited for battlefield mobility, and they are far from a reliable replacement for dedicated IFVs like the BMP-2.
High Risk, Low Reward
While these heavily armored troop carriers provide some protection for Russian infantry, their battlefield performance remains questionable. Without a turret-mounted commander’s view, poor situational awareness makes them easy prey for Ukrainian forces.
A deep enough trench, an ambush, or a Ukrainian drone swarm can quickly turn these makeshift assault carriers into death traps—just like the one stuck and abandoned in the latest viral video.
