The Russians came up with the idea based on their experience in Grozny. They wanted a thick skinned weapons system to fight infantry and thin skinned vehicles in an urban environment.
“Urban” and “Tank” just doesn’t work without a lot of infantry support. Not even with these things.
But infantry with a “tank support vehicle” is going to be a lot more dangerous than infantry without it.
If I had space, I’d put in an infantry compartment though, if just for a place to stick wounded troopers.