Direct proof of use
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine lists the FV104 Samaritan among CVR(T) armored vehicles in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and describes it as an unarmed armored ambulance designed for casualty evacuation directly from the battlefield. The same profile gives the Samaritan's medical capacity as up to four stretcher casualties or five to six seated casualties, with a driver and medic crew.
Open-source transfer and loss records add theater-specific evidence. Oryx's Ukraine aid inventory lists 40 FV104 Samaritans delivered from October 2022, while its Ukrainian equipment-loss list records two FV104 Samaritan losses, one destroyed and one captured. Army Recognition and TASS both reported a May 18, 2024 Russian Ministry of Defense claim that Russian forces had recovered a damaged British FV104 Samaritan armored ambulance used by Ukraine.
Sources: Ukraine MoD CVR(T) Profile, Oryx Heavy Weaponry Supplied to Ukraine, Oryx Ukrainian Equipment Losses, Army Recognition Samaritan Capture Report, TASS Samaritan Capture Report
Timeline
By October 2022, Oryx tracked 40 FV104 Samaritan armored ambulances as delivered to Ukraine from the United Kingdom. That placed the ambulance variant in the same broader CVR(T) assistance stream as FV103 Spartan carriers and other British tracked vehicles.
On May 18, 2024, Russian state and defense reporting said a damaged FV104 Samaritan had been seized by Russia's battlegroup East. Army Recognition placed the report in the Novomykhailivka area and attributed the capture claim to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
On March 27, 2026, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence publicly profiled the FV104 Samaritan as one of the CVR(T) vehicles in Armed Forces of Ukraine service, emphasizing its tracked mobility, off-road evacuation role, and protection for casualty movement in difficult terrain.
Sources: Oryx Heavy Weaponry Supplied to Ukraine, Army Recognition Samaritan Capture Report, TASS Samaritan Capture Report, Ukraine MoD CVR(T) Profile
Battlefield role
In Ukrainian service, the Samaritan's documented role is not fire support but protected casualty evacuation. The vehicle is unarmed, uses the CVR(T) tracked chassis, and is described by Ukraine's defense ministry as able to work off road in mud and snow where wheeled evacuation vehicles may be unable to operate.
The available public record supports transfer, service, and battlefield loss or capture claims more directly than it supports individual evacuation incidents. The most specific battlefield incident in the source set is the May 2024 capture report, which identifies a damaged British FV104 Samaritan armored ambulance associated with Ukrainian use.
Sources: Ukraine MoD CVR(T) Profile, Army Recognition Samaritan Capture Report, TASS Samaritan Capture Report
