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  • ✇Euromaidan Press
  • Ukraine’s 39th Brigade turns 70-year-old weapon into valuable frontline asset
    In the skilled hands of Ukrainian soldiers, an old body armor becomes a combat marvel. The Pansarbandvagn 301 is a Swedish armored personnel carrier developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite its venerable age, this vehicle continues to perform combat missions. Now, as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, specifically within the 39th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade. The Pansarbandvagn 301 is not the only old weapon Ukraine has. In September 2025, a Kyiv air defense
     
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✇Euromaidan Press

Ukraine’s 39th Brigade turns 70-year-old weapon into valuable frontline asset

Par :Olena Mukhina
7 novembre 2025 à 10:16

In the skilled hands of Ukrainian soldiers, an old body armor becomes a combat marvel. The Pansarbandvagn 301 is a Swedish armored personnel carrier developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Despite its venerable age, this vehicle continues to perform combat missions. Now, as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, specifically within the 39th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade.

The Pansarbandvagn 301 is not the only old weapon Ukraine has. In September 2025, a Kyiv air defense volunteer operator stopped Russia's Kh-69 cruise missile with a "Maksim" machine gun used by the Russian Empire and Soviet troops during World War II. 

The Swedish PBV-301 in the 39th brigade turns logistics into survival on the front

The brigade reports that the PBV is used for logistical support in the unit’s area of responsibility.

“This armored vehicle supplies ammunition and food, transports and retrieves fighters from positions, and evacuates the wounded,” the soldiers say.

The brigade notes that the vehicle is “not bad, and in skilled hands it is even capable of small miracles.”

From ammunition runs to casualty evacuation

According to the troops, the main effectiveness of the PBV-301 depends on the training of the mechanic-driver. For this reason, practical training sessions are regularly held under the guidance of experienced instructors.

“Such exercises allow drivers to practice driving on difficult sections of terrain and to become accustomed to the physical and psychological stresses,” the instructor says.

Training under fire: how instructors temper PBV mechanic-drivers so they can run routes that don’t work the first time

He emphasized that completing combat missions requires considerable endurance and strength of spirit from the driver.

“There are routes you can do on the first try, and there are ones you have to ‘run’ several times. We train, provide guidance, and offer assistance. Because there is no better motivation than a well-prepared crew,” he explains.

✇Euromaidan Press

Next steps on Donetsk’s map after Pokrovsk — first Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk in Moscow’s occupation plan

Par :Olena Mukhina
29 octobre 2025 à 13:05

Russian forces mobilized around 11,000 troops in an attempt to encircle Ukraine's Pokrovsk outskirts, the 7th Rapid Response Corps of the Air Assault Forces reports. The invaders sought to advance northwest and north of the city using infiltrating groups.

The situation in Pokrovsk is catastrophic as Russian forces have reached the outskirts of Pokrovsk. Moscow focuses on capturing the city because control over it would open a path for further Russian territorial gains in the east of Ukraine.

Armor, artillery, and hundreds of drones

Within the 7th Corps’ area of responsibility, Russians amassed 27,000 personnel, around 100 tanks, up to 260 armored fighting vehicles, and up to 160 artillery pieces and mortars.

Since April 2025, civilians in Pokrovsk have been burying the dead directly in the courtyards of residential buildings, as it is impossible to transport bodies to the cemetery. Russian forces are advancing on the city from multiple directions and shell it daily. Over 1,200 civilians remain in the city, where evacuation has been suspended due to ongoing Russian control of all exits. 

They also actively deployed drones to monitor and control the battlefield.

Fresh number of losses

Ukrainian soldiers eliminated 90 invaders and wounded another 42.

Russian troops lost 1 armored personnel carrier, 3 infantry fighting vehicles, 3 vehicles, 1 motorcycle, and 158 drones of various types. Directly in Pokrovsk, Ukrainian troops destroyed 18 Russian combatants. 

Path to the next Ukrainian region

Ukrainian military expert Ivan Stupak explains that if Pokrovsk falls, Russian forces would have a direct path to Mezhova in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

However, according to Stupak, losing Pokrovsk would not critically weaken Donetsk’s defense. Ukrainian forces successfully slowed the Russian offensive for 13 months, gaining vital time for Ukraine and European defense, Telegraf reports. 

“For 13 months, Russia circled Pokrovsk. What they lost most of all wasn’t personnel — they lost time. Only after sending reinforcements from Sumy Oblast did any progress appear,” Stupak said.

Stupak predicts Russia will next press toward Kostiantynivka, then Kramatorsk and Sloviansk — the agglomeration whose capture would signal control over all of Donetsk Oblast.

“Without Pokrovsk, they can’t reach Kramatorsk. First Pokrovsk, then Kostiantynivka, only then Sloviansk and Kramatorsk,” he concluded.

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