Counterintelligence officers of the SBU destroyed the rare Terminator combat vehicle, which the Russians are proud of, with kamikaze drones.

Combat vehicle BMPT “Terminator”.Photo: Imaginechina / ddp USA / Profimedia Images

This appears to be only the second confirmed Terminator destruction during the war in Ukraine

“This rare specimen of enemy equipment caught fire only after several hits by kamikaze drones,” the SBU said in a message on social networks.

“They tried to save the Terminator with a T-80 tank, but it was also shot down!”, the quoted source added.

BMPT “Terminator” – a monster “designed” to protect tanks in battle

It was only last May, after many months of war and initially only in the Severodonetsk area, that the Russians fielded a single company fielding Terminator armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles designed and built to protect main battle tanks during a frontal attack.

Russia developed the Terminator after identifying a need to provide special protection for the main battle tanks it used during the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya.

BMPT “Terminator” is built on the chassis of the T-72 tank, has a diesel engine with a capacity of 1000 hp, weighs about 48 tons, and also has dynamic armor installed on the sides and front of the vehicle.

The combat vehicle is armed with a turret with four 9M120 “Ataka” multiple rocket launchers, two 30-mm automatic cannons, two grenade launchers and a paired 7.62-mm machine gun.