The official account of the incident, as presented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), claimed that driver error caused the crash. Local media, however, suggested that the poor condition of the road may have served as the primary catalyst. Local media sources also mentioned that sunken tarmac caused the driver to lose control, yet no signs of damage to the road were visible in the photos or in the satellite imagery. Following the accident, several VKontakte users blamed the chassis of the KAMAZ-6560 8x8 vehicle for the crash, claiming that its high center of gravity renders it unsuitable and unreliable for the Pantsir system.

Conclusion

The real reason behind the crash of the Pantsir in Vladivostok is unknown at the moment, as the MIA and local media presented two disparate accounts of the incident. Open-source analysis confirmed, however, that the crash did take place and its exact location.

Furthermore, photos and satellite imagery did not show visible damage to the road. The lack of visible damage suggests that, while driver error may have been a contributing factor to the crash, the system itself underperformed by crashing on a clear road in relatively good condition. This incident is not the first in which a Pantsir system failed to operate effectively. The DFRLab has previously reported on two Israeli strikes that took out Pantsir systems without much difficulty.