Russia is “supplying” Ukraine with lots of weapons and equipment due to the large amount of Moscow’s assets abandoned and seized on the battlefield.
Kyiv’s forces have taken possession of over 800 Russian artillery systems, armored vehicles, and other weaponry since the invasion began in February 2022, according to a report by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
These items are reportedly being repaired or reconfigured to be used against their former operators.
“Russia is competing with Western countries to supply weapons to Ukraine,” Ukrainian Col. Oleksandr Saruba, who worked at a facility that receives and analyzes captured weaponry, jokingly told the outlet.
Among Moscow’s military assets captured by Ukraine were T-72 tanks, Grad rocket launchers, Uragan missiles, and modernized 2A65 Msta-B howitzers.
Limitations
Despite the large amount of equipment seized from Russia, military analyst Michael Kofman said not everything is useful to Ukraine.
Some captured vehicles are equipped with parts that are not available in the war-torn nation.
“Ukrainians don’t have the parts that keep a lot of these running,” Kofman said. “So, on paper, you may capture a lot of vehicles, but you don’t have the engines, you don’t have the transmissions, you don’t have the parts to keep them going.”
Weapons that could not be repaired are instead analyzed to know where their components originated from, which could eventually guide future sanctions.