Canadian war correspondent Neil Hauer visited the industrial warehouse in Kharkiv, where 25 British armored vehicles bought by the Ukrainian World Congress are kept. It is about 25 Spartan personnel carriers. The equipment was purchased thanks to donors from 70 countries. The delivery organization lasted over six months, the head of the UniteWithUkraine initiative, Andrew Potichnyj, told the Canadian media Foreign Policy.
“When this program was initiated in February [2022], [UWC leadership] really wanted to put an emphasis on the TDF,” Potichnyj says. “This was a new structure, and it was identified as one that probably doesn’t have the budget of other structures, nor does it have the support on a massive scale that the international partners give to the armed forces,” Andrew Potichnyj says.
Currently, Spartan and FV432 perform operational tasks: in particular, medical evacuation of both civilians and military personnel. The role of armored vehicles is decisive in saving lives, Artur, a 30-year-old lieutenant colonel from Kharkiv, says the role of armored vehicles is decisive in saving lives.
“The main task of armored vehicles is preserving the lives of soldiers. … Here, with these specialized vehicles, you drive [in a combat zone] and you’re not worried about a thing. Short of a direct hit, you can actually survive to get to the wounded soldiers and evacuate them,” Artur explains.
Currently, the Ukrainian World Congress is working on continuing the supply of Spartan, Andrew Potichnyj reported. After all, the UniteWithUkraine initiative, donations from donors from all over the world, help save lives.
“We are so grateful to Canada and everyone else [who donated to this],” says Yanyk, a Ukrainian reservist who declined to give his last name. “There’s a saying in Ukraine: ‘A million threads make a shirt.’ So here you go, one thread, two threads, and now our brigade has its shirt.”
The FV103 Spartan is a tracked armored personnel carrier of the UK Army. A light, fast, and maneuverable vehicle can carry up to seven people. The strong welded aluminum body with a thickness of up to 60 millimeters of this APC can protect the military from debris and large-caliber bullets. The FV432, since its introduction into service, has become the most common armored vehicle used to transport infantry on the battlefield. This armored vehicle can carry up to twelve people.
