A story from the Russian blogger who names himself "ntv": "I had to write this blog entry, since many still cannot believe I managed to purchase a BRDM-2(Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle). Yes, I really did buy it, and brought it to Russia myself."

"It all started early this year, when one of my friends developed a keen interest in combatvehicles. I have to admit, the idea of actually buying one didn't enter his mind, but the less he was interested in getting one, the more my own interest bloomed."

So, in early June Iheaded out to the dear-to-my-heart Republic of Belarus.

Turns out, during the summer, the prices for all combat armored vehicles in Russia rise rapidly, and the only affordable ones are severely beat up or suspicious models without anydocumentation. Of course I suspected that transporting and successfully gaining entry from Belarus would not be an easy task, but there were no other options.

"Your basket contains 1 item: a T-64Btank. Do you want to continue shopping?". Fricking amazing! At times the catalogue contains photos of the items, but it's best to view things like that for yourself. Unfortunately, foreign nationals (including russians) have tobook a visit two weeks in advance with the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB for short), otherwise you won't be able to enter the military bases.

"On the way wewere stopped four times. We were only asked to show proper documentation on the fourth stop, all others were limited to shocked questions "WHAT THE HELL KINDATANK IS THIS?!"

On the fourth time the road police decided to be strict and looked over our contract's front pagefor about two minutes, then asked:

"After we arrived,it turned out that just pumping the wheels back up and rolling it off the carrier would be a no-go. The BRDM's weight would simply crush the carrier's back ramps and possible topple the entire thing over, damaging other cars.Thankfully, a nearby construction site loaned us their crane".

"It was really terrifying to ride through the city, everyone stopped and blocked us from all sides. Once we were on a three-lane highway and stopped in the middle lane at ared light, with three cars in front of us. First the cars on either side of usstopped right next to our BRDM, not right at the lights. Then the road policejoined them on the right side and started taking photos of themselves in frontof the BRDM! At least they had the decency to show us the way afterwards.) The entire way to Moscow, including rest stops, took 24 hours".

"It was late evening and we managed to install the accumulators and pump up the wheels.Unfortunately one of the gas tanks had a leak, and the wiring in this thing drove me into a stupor. Say you see two black cables and one white, and logically you could assume that the white one should be positive and the black ones should go to the weight. But no, one of the black ones turned out to be apositive one, it turned out to be feeding the starter".

"Of course wecouldn't leave an armored personnel carrier out on the street – it could bestolen easily. So we found a garbage truck (!) that agreed to take us to our dacha house in the country, since it wasn't too far away, just 2 kilometers.

"Turns out, two cables aren't going to cut it while pulling an armored combat vehicle. Right ona crossroads one of them snapped, signaling the end to all our plans. Getting stuck in the middle of a highway with a seven-tonne BRDM that couldn't move onit's own wasn't a good new plan. Somehow, the single cable held out all the way to the dacha."

A little more about the thing itself. BRDM-2 is a Combat Reconnaissance/Patrol Vehicle. Itweighs 7 tonnes, has a 5.5 liter engine and 140 horsepowers. It consumes 40liters of 92 octane gasoline every 100 kilometers. It's an amphibious vehicle,which has a winch and a water cannon. Goes through any terrain, absolutely any.

You or your company can easily sponsor our expedition. The logo of each sponsor will be applied onto the armor of this beast, and we'll give each and every sponsor a special mention in every update we do. Right now I'm looking for technical sponsors,which can consist of: