The Militarnyi has released video footage of Ukrainian servicemen using VAB troop carriers gifted to them by France.
The VAB armored personnel carriers are being donated to Ukraine by France to support Ukrainian defenders in the war against Russia.
In mid-June, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu said that France will send “significant quantities” of armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
“To move quickly in areas under enemy fire, armies need armored vehicles,” he said in an interview with Parisian-Today.
France will therefore “deliver, in significant quantities, transport vehicles of this type, VAB (Armoured Forward Vehicles), which are armed”, he adds.
The VAB was available in about thirty different versions to meet specific needs and adapt to new technologies. It is still widely used by the French army and is one of its “emblematic” vehicles. The base model is the 4×4 VAB VTT armored personnel carrier, which carries an infantry squad of 8-10 fully-equipped troops in the relatively spacious armored hull. Vehicle armor protects the crew and dismounts from 7.62 mm rounds, artillery shell splinters and anti-personnel mines. This armored personnel carrier can carry up to 2 000 kg of payload in place of the troops.
France has already delivered a large quantity of military equipment to Ukraine as well as modern CAESAR self-propelled howitzers. Since the beginning of the military offensive launched by Moscow in Ukraine on February 24, Paris has delivered to Kyiv, beyond Caesar cannons, Milan anti-tank missiles or even Mistral anti-aircraft missiles.