> Pantsir-S1 (Russian: Панцирь-С1, NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) is a combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon system produced by KBP of Tula, Russia. The system is a further development of SA-19/SA-N-11 and represents the latest air defence technology by using phased-array radars for both target acquisition and tracking.
> … The Pantsir-S1 air-defence missile-gun system was adopted for service with the Russian Army by an order of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev on 16 November 2012…
Russian soldier's VK post, and another. The InformNapalm source article. Note: the systems are missing their Russian Federation Army license plates.
Photo from Shakhtarsk, courtesy of ConflictReporter.
> The BTR-82A is an advanced 8x8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) being manufactured by Military Industrial Company of Russia for use by the armies of Russia and Kazakhstan.
> The first prototypes of the vehicle were unveiled in December 2009. The APC's features were demonstrated during the 15th Interpolitex State Security Materiel Show at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre in Moscow in October 2011. It was also displayed at the Russian Expo Arms 2011 show in Nizhny Tagil.
KSVK / ASVK 12,7 Anti-Material Rifle
> The KSVK (Russian: Крупнокалиберная Снайперская Винтовка Ковровская (Krupnokalibernaya Snayperskaya Vintovka Kovrovskaya); English: Large-Caliber Kovrov Sniper Rifle) or Degtyarev sniper rifle is a 12.7mm anti-materiel sniper rifle developed in Russia for the purpose of counter sniping and penetrating thick walls, as well as light armored vehicles…
> … ASVK (АСВК, Army Kovrov Large-caliber Sniper Rifle) – adopted by Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation under designation 6S8 “KORD” sniper complex (6С8 «Корд») in June 2013…
Militiaman being trained to use the ASVK in Pisky.
Photo of a seperatist with the weapon, courtesy of ARES.
Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.
Uglegorsk, Omar Oblast, Russia.
> The T-72B3 is a recent Russian upgrade of the ageing T-72B tanks… First upgraded T-72B3 tanks were delivered in 2013.
Not a T-72M, as the video title claims. Identifiable by its French Thales night-vision sights.
BMP's with painted-over insignias
It is strictly unnecessary for rebels to paint over the insignia of captured vehicles.
1RL239 "Lynx" battlefield surveillance radar
> The more interesting vehicle pictured is a ARC-1 "Lynx" another artillery surveillance radar system. According to the russian wikipedia page the Arc-1 has been in service since 1977 and the ARK-1m since 1983. Never exported to Ukraine and only two exist outside of russia in Moldavia as of 2012.
Courtesy of /u/NihilNovae_Su. As he describes, many weapons in that album are not in service with Ukraine.
US Satellite Imagery
Convoys
One of particular importance: a T-72BM, happily driving alongside an MT-LB Strela-10M and a BTR-ZD "Skrezhet", which happens to be flying the flag of the Sevestapol Naval Infantry. The Institute for Strategic Studies does not think it is a hoax.
For comparison: what separatist convoys looked like in April.
Circumstantial Evidence:
Russia denied it was involved in Ukraine, only for Putin to later confess "Of course our troops stood behind Crimea's self-defence forces ".
Does anybody remember the ten Russian paratroops (VDV) which apparently entered the Ukraine by mistake, and were apprehended? Here's the link. The thing is, those paratroops belonged to the 98th Guards Airborne Division. Of the 98th Airborne, you have the 331st and 1065th regiments. Both are based out of Kostroma. Coincidentally, in this article you have two Ukrainian soldiers, belonging to separate units, both attesting they had fought Russian VDV out of Kostroma.
On the subject of the VDV, we then have the captured APC's with the documents of Russian paratroopers, paratroopers of the Pskov division's No. 74268 Brigade.
