Boris Karpa The Ukrainian conflict has resulted in significant numbers of improvised armoured fighting vehicles (AFV) being employed by both Ukrainian security forces and pro-Russian separatist forces. Generally, improvised combat vehicles are manufactured from poor quality components, built by amateurs with no engineering training, under terrible conditions and equipped with ill-fitted weapons and armour. This particular vehicle appears different,
Update 150828: A new image of the Hopak-61 rifle has surfaced (below), taken at the Arms & Security 2015 (ЗБРОЯ ТА БЕЗПЕКА – 2015) expo in Kiev and posted less than an hour ago. The rifle is manufactured by Mayak JSC, and is described as a modernised AKM rifle ‘operational-portable’. Michael Smallwood Amongst arms and equipment
N.R. Jenzen-Jones The seizure of former president Viktor Yanukovych’s estate in Mezhyhirya, an hour’s drive from Kiev, turned up a range of interesting arms and munitions. Nearby, a variety of ammunition was recovered from a private lake, including the cartridges shown in the image above. These are 5.66 x 39 mm rounds for the Russian made APS (Автомат
