A Russian fighting vehicle has appeared on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine with an unusual new look – spiked bristles and long wavy “hair”.

The strange modifications, shown off on Russian state TV, are the latest crudely improvised defences used to counter rapidly evolving drones being developed by both sides.

The vehicle, believed to be a rusted BMP-1, was coated in metal sheets in a rudimentary design first used in the First World War to cover weak spots in armour, mockingly known as “cope cages”.

However, what is new is the curly sheaves of steel that hang over the vehicle’s open, exposed back, while on its sides, thick broom-like bristles poke out from holes.

The hair-like additions appear to be in an attempt to keep small explosive-rigged FPV (first-person-view) drones – that have become ubiquitous on Ukraine’s battlefields – at a distance.

Oleksandr Danylyuk, a military and defence analyst at RUSI told The Telegraph, he hadn’t seen such defences used in the war before.