Ukrainian war correspondent Yulia Kiriyenko-Merinova was pleasantly surprised by the British self-propelled artillery mount, which repeatedly saved Ukrainian fighters on the front.
The journalist reported this on her Facebook page.
According to Kiriyenko-Merinova, this self-propelled gun has come a long way and is now operating in the Pokrovsky direction.
"The gun that covered ours in Kurshchyna. The guys who went through Bakhmut, the Zaporizhzhia counteroffensive on it and entered the first echelon into Kurshchyna. The self-propelled gun that took out about 30 fighters from the Korean encirclement. In the literal sense of the word, it took them out. Now it covers our infantry in Pokrovshchyna," says the correspondent.
At the same time, he calls the art installation happy.
"I haven't met such motivated guys in a long time. And this British self-propelled gun can really be called lucky. Ugh-ugh," the journalist added.
Apparently, this is a British self-propelled artillery mount (SAU) AS-90, whose official designation is Gun Equipment 155 mm L131. It was developed and manufactured by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering.
The installation weighs 45 tons, is armed with a 155 mm gun and is 39 calibers long. The main user is the British Army. Licensed production of turrets has been established in Poland for the AHS Krab self-propelled guns.
In 2023, the United Kingdom transferred 20 combat-ready AS-90s and 12 defective ones to Ukraine for use as donor parts during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The first combat experience of their use took place in June 2023.
According to the Ukrainian military, the AS90 surpasses existing Soviet artillery systems, such as the 2S1 "Gvozdyka" and 2S3 "Akatsiya", both in range and accuracy.
On June 23, 2023, during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Zaporizhia direction, soldiers destroyed three Russian 122-mm D-30 howitzers using the AS-90.
Recall that in March 2025, the Russians lost the most artillery systems and vehicles at the front since the beginning of the large-scale invasion.