Odesa customs officers reported on their Facebook page that in the documents the vehicle was listed as a US-made tractor unit intended for civilian use, with a declared value of 1.2 million hryvnias. However, a check of open internet sources showed that in fact this vehicle is used to transport the American main battle tank Abrams as part of road trains weighing up to 105 tons and belongs to the category of "Heavy Equipment Transport Systems".
The data revealed by customs was confirmed by experts from the SBU Department in Odesa region and representatives of the Ministry of Defense. Instead of the customs clearance procedure, the vehicle was seized under Article 472 of the Customs Code of Ukraine, which provides for liability for false declaration.
How this vehicle ended up in Ukraine has not yet been established. Most likely, it was brought along with another batch of passenger cars from the US purchased at auctions.
It is worth noting that this is the Oshkosh M1070 tractor, which was produced for the American army from 1990 to 2009. During this period, 4,500 such vehicles were produced for transporting tanks. The truck was equipped with a 12-liter turbodiesel with 500 horsepower, and after modernization, an engine with 700 horsepower. A feature of the Oshkosh is three rear axles on air suspension.
