Direct proof of use
Oryx's visually confirmed Russian equipment-loss list for the full-scale invasion records two Russian MT-LBu vehicles with 57 mm S-60 guns as destroyed in Ukraine. The same list separately records four MT-LB vehicles with AZP S-60 anti-aircraft guns, showing that the MT-LBu entry is part of a wider Russian MT-LB-family conversion pattern rather than a single isolated chassis.
A separate Oryx tracking page for Russian Army equipment types not yet destroyed in Ukraine listed an MT-LBu with a 57 mm AZP S-60 anti-aircraft gun and noted that the first example was destroyed in April 2024. That entry gives the clearest public open-source distinction between the longer MT-LBu/S-60 conversion and the shorter MT-LB/S-60 conversions.
Sources: Oryx Russian Equipment Losses In Ukraine, Oryx Russian Equipment Not Yet Destroyed In Ukraine
Timeline
The conversion pattern was visible by May 2023, when Defense Express reported Russian installation of the S-60 anti-aircraft gun on an MT-LB armored vehicle and described it as an improvised self-propelled artillery or assault-gun solution rather than a modern air-defense system.
By October 2023, The Armourers Bench described 57 mm S-60 guns mounted on Russian MT-LBs as a recurring adaptation and reported that the vehicles were typically used for direct fire support against ground targets. In 2024, Oryx's equipment tracking distinguished the MT-LBu/S-60 variant and recorded the first destroyed example in April 2024.
Sources: Defense Express S-60 MT-LB, The Armourers Bench MT-LB Adaptations, Oryx Russian Equipment Not Yet Destroyed In Ukraine
Battlefield role
The MT-LBu/S-60 should be read as an improvised tracked firing platform built from an older armored utility chassis and a Soviet 57 mm automatic anti-aircraft gun. The S-60's original purpose was low-altitude air defense, but reporting on Russian MT-LB-family conversions in Ukraine describes the battlefield role mainly as fire support or an assault-gun substitute.
The available public evidence supports Russian fielding and losses of the MT-LBu/S-60 in the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, but it does not identify a formal production designation, manufacturing line, unit inventory, or standardized fire-control package for the conversion. The strongest conflict-specific claim is therefore documented Russian use and loss of MT-LBu/S-60 vehicles, with role context drawn from reporting on the wider MT-LB/S-60 adaptation family.
Sources: Oryx Russian Equipment Losses In Ukraine, Defense Express S-60 MT-LB, The Armourers Bench MT-LB Adaptations, National Defence University S-60
