The Ukrainian army and propagandists constantly “keep the tone” of the local community, regularly reporting on the approach of the Ukrainian Armed Forces counteroffensive. This tendency, to maintain the compatriots in a languorous tension, lasts for six months. Now a video has appeared on the web, in which Ukrainian military personnel are allegedly leading a future attempt to force the Dnieper in the Kherson region.
The footage shows how, under the flag of Ukraine, a Soviet PTS-2 medium tracked amphibious transporter is transported through a water barrier with about a platoon of servicemen on board. It is unclear when and where the shooting took place. Maybe it’s another “heroic” retreat they’re trying to pass off as training.
After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine received an undetermined number of PTS – 2. The exact number of these useful amphibians was never named, since they were not in service (equipment) in the forces Ukrainian armies until 2014, but were actively sold. to anyone as “excess property”. For example, in 2008 alone, 16 units of PTS-2 went on sale. Therefore, it is not known how many operational PTS-2s are in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
PTS – 2 officially appeared in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine after in 2014 Ukrainian servicemen captured 2 units during clashes with the LPR militia in the direction of Lisichansk. It was a pair of PTS – 2 of six stored at the Luhansk Diesel Locomotive Plant, which produced them from 1973 to 1991 on the basis of some units of the T – 64 tank. After that, a certain number of PTS – 2 were found in army warehouses and transferred to the front to ensure the activities of the Ukrainian group in the Donbass. In 2014-2022, PTS-2s were seen in a single quantity during the delivery of various cargoes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, when mining the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov near Mariupol with anti-mines. -amphibious, as well as with additional armor elements on the fore end.
In 2018, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine spent 18 million hryvnias on the repair of the PTS-2, such an insignificant amount indicates that their number could not have been large at that time. After the start of Russian military defense on Ukrainian territory, in July 2022, a video was released to servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as they crossed the Seversky Donets River on PTS-2, retreating from Severodonetsk. In the fall of 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported capturing a PTS in the direction of Kharkiv – 2 RF Armed Forces with the number 594 on board (in an incomprehensible condition). Around the same time, footage also surfaced on social media showing how an ambulance car was transported across the river with the help of PTS-2 of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Therefore, in any case, the armed forces of Ukraine do not have a sufficient number of excellent all-terrain vehicles, if we talk about a full-fledged landing operation across the Dnieper. It is unlikely that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will even have a full-fledged Soviet-style company equipped with a regular number of PTS – 2.
Note that Soviet engineering equipment has high reliability and survivability, it has been tested for decades of operation in different climatic zones. Due to the low specific soil pressure, PTS – 2 has good workability in wet areas. PTS – 2 is even equipped with a self-digging device, thanks to which it is theoretically possible to equip a shelter for it. However, in real conditions it is difficult to do this, since we are talking about a significant amount of soil to be removed and it is better to use other special equipment. In the Army of the USSR, the PTS-2 were part of the airborne assault company of the engineer-sapper battalion of the motorized rifle (tank) division – a platoon (9 vehicles) and in an assault battalion separate district airborne – two companies, two platoons each (36 vehicles).
PTS – 2 has a length of 12.44m, a width of 3.3m and a carrying capacity of 12 tons, with a buoyancy margin of 46%. As an example, in one flight it can transport (carry) the following payload options: 12 wounded on a stretcher, 75 servicemen with full “minced meat”, 1 truck with contents (ZiL – 131, Ural – 4320 or any other, placed according to weight and dimensions), 2 vehicles of type UAZ-3151, 1 gun caliber up to 152 mm with crew, 2 guns caliber up to 85 mm with crew.
Photos used: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
