Russian forces have captured their first Swedish-made CV90 infantry fighting vehicle on the Ukrainian battlefield. Footage of the seized hardware was published by RIA Novosti news agency on Sunday.
Photos of Russian troops posing in front of the CV90 appeared on social media on Saturday. According to Readovka outlet, it was captured during fighting in Lugansk Region.
The Swedish infantry fighting vehicle was hit using a man-portable rocket launcher. The commander was killed in the blast, while the rest of the Ukrainian troops got out and fled, RIA Novosti reported.
The footage released by the agency showed a hole in the CV90’s armor made by the rocket. It also showed the interior of the vehicle, where many of the signs were translated from English into Russian so that Ukrainians could understand them.
The CV-90 is a family of combat vehicles that has been in service with the Swedish Army since 1993. They’re equipped with a 40mm cannon and have armor that can withstand 30mm projectiles.
Sweden, which is looking to become a NATO member, said it had plans to supply CV-90s to Ukraine in January. In early July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov announced that the vehicles had arrived. According to Oryx monitoring website, Kiev has received a total of 50 CV-90s.
Footage purporting to show the moment when the Swedish vehicle was hit by a rocket has also been uploaded online.
Russian forces have captured various pieces of Western-supplied hardware during the conflict, some of which have been displayed at the Patriot Park in Moscow Region. Trophies collected in recent weeks also included a US-made Bradley fighting vehicle and French AMX-10 wheeled tank.
Russia has long condemned the supply of foreign weapons to Ukraine, arguing that it will only prolong the fighting, but won’t prevent it from achieving the goals of its military operation. According to Moscow, the assistance provided to Kiev by the US, EU and some other nations already makes Western nations de facto parties to the conflict.