Ukrainian bloggers have noticed that armor shown in a video matches armor in Russia, and may indicate proof that convoys spotted near the Ukrainian border inside Russia to end up deep in Ukraine -- a point that has already been proven multiple times before, including in our post in recent days about Russian Strela-10s, Uragans, BPM-97s and other armor only in the Russian arsenal in Ukraine.
Translation: The "Lavina" BMP-2 of the Rashisty in Uglegorsk. The same one that in August was brought through Kamensk-Shakhtinsk.
Rashisty is a pejorative term for Russians, combined with the term "fascists."
Lavina means "avalanche" in Russian.
The Ukrainian news site Informator.su reported the match.
A video showing a convoy in Russia was uploaded by some teenagers in August and copied by Action Tube. It was believed to be in the town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsk because of the stores and railroad overpass, although we have not geolocated it:
Some of the vehicles on the trailers have the Russian word Lavina on them, also with area painted over in green, and one also with the slogan "To the Donbass!"
Lavina could mean the name of an operation, or a unit, or simply convey the idea of an onslaught, it's not known. Identifying insignia on Russian tanks are often painted over in green, and it's common for the Russians and Russian-backed separatists to paint an aspirational destination on the side of tanks.
The same slogan Lavina was on armor spotted in Uglegorsk (Vulehirsk) in this video uploaded by News Front on February 3 titled "Clearing of Uglegorsk. Special Operation by Militia."
While it's possible to paint or over-paint anything on a tank given by Russia to militants in Ukraine, the distinct similarity of the painted slogan and the armor in Russian and then later Ukraine deserve closer study.
-- Catherine A. Fitzpatrick