Lithuania will transfer 14 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine for mine clearance

Lithuania will transfer 14 M113 armored personnel carriers to Ukraine for mine clearance

Lithuania has announced new assistance to Ukraine to combat a full-scale Russian invasion. The country will transfer M113 armored personnel carriers to the Ukrainian Defence Forces.

The Ministry of Defence of Lithuania reported this on Wednesday, June 12. They noted that the transferred armored personnel carriers should help the Ukrainian Armed Forces in demining the territories.

As the department clarified, the Ukrainian army will receive 14 units of this equipment this week.

They also said that the transfer of M113 armored personnel carriers was initiated by the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Lithuania in response to the Ukrainian government’s request to its allies to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine in repelling Russian aggression.

"The donated armored vehicles are intended to strengthen the Ukrainian army’s demining capabilities and are Lithuania’s gratuitous contribution to the support mobilized by the Icelandic-led Mine Action Coalition. The purpose of the Ukrainian Mine Action Coalition is to consolidate and coordinate existing and future support from donor countries to Ukraine, both in the field of combat, and humanitarian demining," the statement said.

The M113 armored personnel carrier is an American tracked armored personnel carrier, which has long been the main armored personnel carrier of the United States. It is in service with many armies around the world. After the start of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Ukraine received hundreds of these vehicles.

The M113 is a relatively light vehicle with a combat weight of 10.25 tons. The crew consists of two people: a driver and a commander. The armored personnel carrier can regularly transport 11 paratroopers.