VIDEO: See Belgian Armored Personnel Carriers In Eastern Ukraine – Video footage shared online this week shows Belgian armored personnel carriers in use in Ukraine.
In the video, roughly half a dozen Ukrainian troops can be seen on top of the armored personnel carrier, armed and ready to fight, as the vehicle operator performs a turn.
The soldiers, in full gear, lie atop the vehicle. One soldier is seen waving as they pass what look like residential buildings in a rural town.
Ukraine Weapons Tracker, a popular war-tracking Twitter account, shared the clip on January 26, noting that the vehicle appeared to be a M113A1-B armored personnel carrier manufactured in Belgium. The Twitter account also noted that the vehicles came from the United Kingdom.
The armored personnel carrier is an American design originally purchased by Belgium.
“The Ukrainian army received Belgian M113A1-B armored personnel carriers – one of the vehicles were spotted in the East,” Ukraine Weapons Tracker writes.
“These APCs were apparently purchased from a private company in Belgium by the UK.”
Earlier this month, Britain’s secretary of State for Defense, Ben Wallace, confirmed that several FV432 Mk3 Bulldog tracked armored personnel carriers would be sent to Ukraine alongside the M113A1-B carriers that have already been sent to Ukraine.
You can watch the clip here.
Belgium Will Send “Substantial Aid”
Though the carriers were purchased from Belgium, the Belgian government did not directly gift them to Ukraine. The country is, however, expected to send a new round of military aid to Ukraine. This time, the country’s leaders say that the aid will be “substantial.”
During an interview on the Bel RTL radio station on January 25, Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder said that she was expected to present to the Council of Ministers on Friday to discuss the next round of aid. Dedonder confirmed that tanks were not on the cards.
“This Friday, at the Council of Ministers, I will propose further aid to meet the urgent needs of the Ukrainians in terms of air defense and anti-tank warfare, as well as ammunition,” Dedonder said.
Dedonder also said that Belgium sold many of its tanks 10 years ago and that while they could be bought back for the purposes of refurbishing them and sending them to Ukraine, sellers are asking for “unreasonable” prices to purchase them.
“These tanks were sold for the equivalent of €10,000-15,000 because they were no longer operational. […] We are looking at a resale price of €500,000 each, for equipment that is stored in warehouses and for which no repair work has been done,” Dedonder said.
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Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
