Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian Senator armored personnel carrier (APC), the Defense Ministry in Moscow said in a statement on Telegram on Saturday. It is the first official mention of a Canadian-made wheeled APC being eliminated.
The vehicle was hit during a military offensive in Russia's Donetsk People’s Republic and Zaporozhye Region, the statement said. Kiev lost more than 140 servicemen and several vehicles, including the Senator, a British-made FH-70 howitzer, and a US-made M198 artillery piece in this area alone over the past 24 hours, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
It is not clear how many Senator vehicles are currently used by Ukraine. Media outlets reported in late 2023, citing the CEO of the Canadian armored vehicle manufacturer Roshel, that the company had supplied a total of 1,000 APCs to Ukraine by that time. It is also unclear if Kiev received a regular version of the APC or a mine-resistant ambush protected (MRAP) version.
Roshel has advertised the Senator as its flagship “combat proven platform.” Several media outlets claimed in 2018 that the vehicle “can survive even the apocalypse.”
Russia has warned that Western weapons shipments only prolong the conflict without changing the final outcome.
The Russian military has seen “nothing unique or invulnerable for Russian weapons” on the front line, former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in August 2023. Some Soviet-era weapons have proven to be superior in combat to their modern Western equivalents, he added.
The news comes amid a Russian offensive that has continued over the past several months. Ukrainian forces have been gradually losing ground, with particularly serious setbacks occurring last month in Kharkov Region.
Russia launched an operation in the northeastern Ukrainian Kharkov Region in early May in response to routine cross-border strikes by Kiev. According to President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod Region against civilian targets necessitated the offensive. The goal is to establish a buffer zone, he said.