IEDs Instead of Armor: Journalist Reports Critical Problem with Evacuation of the Wounded

The use of ground robotic complexes (GRC) cannot fully replace armored vehicles for evacuating wounded soldiers, and suspending armor contracts puts soldiers' lives at risk.

According to the author, statistics on wounded evacuation from the battlefield over the last six months indicate a difficult situation. She criticizes the approach that considers GRCs a sufficient means to evacuate living people, and the decision not to purchase full armored vehicles because of their cost. The journalist cited a video as an example in which the company commander of CODE.92 rescues the wounded in a pickup. In her view, the serviceman deserves an award for this act, but the situation itself exposes the problem of an insufficient amount of protected transport. She noted that after the scandal over the shortage of GRCs that occurred in winter, there was political will to initially purchase 25 such complexes for the frontline. According to her words, this was stated by the then Minister of Defense. “Then they doubled the figure, at the initiative of the president,” she added. According to Kirienko-Merinova, contracts with manufacturers exist, and GRCs are gradually arriving at the front. At the same time, deliveries, in her assessment, are slower than needed because enterprises are loaded with state, volunteer, and direct orders. “By autumn they won’t fully close the front, even 20 thousand,” she said. Meanwhile, as Kirienko-Merinova claims, citing some manufacturers, contracts for armored vehicles capable of evacuating have been halted. “Because did they spend all the money on drones of various types? Is that how it is?” she wrote. Kirienko-Merinova noted that a large number of videos of destroying Russian equipment with drones may give a feeling of hope for victory, but in her opinion, strengthening one sector should not come at the expense of another. “But if we strengthen one sector, then why at the expense of another? And our wounded on the battlefield remain unable to be saved?” the post reads. For comparison, the journalist cited the cost of armored vehicles: “Novator” costs 12 million UAH, and “Varta” 20 million UAH. She noted that state compensation for a deceased warrior amounts to 15 million UAH, so only one successful evacuation in such a vehicle fully justifies its purchase. In the journalist’s view, GRCs are needed to deliver provisions to dugouts or to evacuate dead bodies. However, for evacuating the wounded, GRCs must be protected. The journalist added that testing of a protective system for cars and GRCs had already been carried out, but scaling up is still far and expensive. The active protection project was worked on by Andriy Lebedenko, who is “now being pushed aside because the team did not succeed.” “The question is not radical: ‘either drones or armor.’ The question is about priorities: if we declare the value of a soldier’s life, it should not be a slogan to placate social networks,” Kirienko-Merinova emphasized. She believes that orders for ground and aerial drones should be issued simultaneously with armored vehicles for the front, not instead of them. “And real actions where orders for drones (ground and air) come in one package with armor for the front, and not instead of it,” she summarized.