Moscow, Apr 25 (IANS): Amid talk of a Ukrainian counter-offensive doing rounds, Russia has introduced its most advanced T-14 'Armata' main battle tank to the battlefield after fitting it with additional protection, media reports said on Tuesday.

"The Russian forces have begun to use the newest Armata tanks to fire at Ukrainian positions but they haven't participated in direct assault actions yet," a source told RIA Novosti news agency, RT reported.

According to the source, the T-14s were fitted with additional protection from anti-tank munitions and tank crews have been training in one of "newly-incorporated" Donbass republics since 2022.

In February, a video was posted on social media that purportedly showed a T-14 firing its 125mm gun "in the zone of the special military operation([in Ukraine)".

RT also reported Konstantin Sivkov, the Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, telling news website URA.ru on Tuesday that the T-14 will be primarily pitted against the British Challenger 2 and German-made Leopard 2A6 models that were pledged to Kiev by NATO countries.

"The Armata surpasses both of these newest Western tanks in terms of technical characteristics," he asserted. He added that the T-14 can operate as "a command (centre)" in a group of Russian T-90M tanks.

The T-14 was unveiled to the public in 2015 and first saw combat in Syria, where Russian forces are supporting President Bashar Assad's fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) and other Islamist militants.