The private military museum Panzermuseum East near the city of Slagelse (Denmark) has transferred two Soviet-era exhibits to Ukraine — a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle and an MT-LB multipurpose armored personnel carrier/tractor, both manufactured in the 1960s. This was reported by the Danish regional television channel TV2 ØST.

The vehicles belonged to a private collection, whose owner — Allan Pedersen — agreed to send them following repeated requests from the Ukrainian side. According to Pedersen, both specimens date back to the early 1960s: the BMP-1 has retained its standard 73-millimeter cannon and, after repairs, can be sent directly to positions, while the MT-LB was previously used as a vehicle for a radar station — essentially a SNAR-10 variant.

According to the museum owner, Ukrainian specialists will be able to bring the vehicles to combat readiness “within a few days”: Ukraine has operated Soviet armored platforms for decades and therefore has a repair base, qualified mechanics, and a well-established logistics network for supplying spare parts for these models. Some components can be sourced from other vehicles of the same family damaged during combat operations.

Pedersen also did not rule out sending several more exhibits, as he has multiple copies of such vehicles. According to TV2 ØST, Kyiv has sent similar requests to other military museums across Europe.

The BMP-1 has long lost its value as an “infantry tank” — the smoothbore 2A28 Grom cannon is weak against modern armored vehicles, and the hull cannot withstand hits from ATGMs or heavy FPV drones. However, a new niche has been found for the vehicle:

  • Delivering assault infantry in areas without dense saturation of kamikaze drones, particularly in forested and tree-line zones.
  • A donor of components and chassis — the running gear is unified with a number of Soviet vehicles, so even a combat-unfit hull becomes a source of spare parts for dozens of other units in the Armed Forces of Ukraine fleet.
  • A base for improvised modifications — conversion into carriers for machine-gun turrets, electronic warfare vehicles, or platforms with additional armor protection.

The MT-LB has a much broader practical application:

  • An amphibious tracked platform with low ground pressure for delivering cargo and personnel across off-road terrain, mud, and snow-covered areas.
  • A multipurpose chassis capable of accepting a wide variety of equipment — from mortars and anti-aircraft systems to radar stations.
  • A carrier for short-range air defense systems — mounting ZU-23-2 or man-portable SAMs to protect convoys and rear facilities from drones and cruise missiles at low altitudes.
  • An evacuation and engineering vehicle — towing damaged equipment and delivering ammunition to the front line.