During their counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, Kiev’s units capture many Russian military vehicles. Some systems are state-of-the-art and undamaged. Moscow’s weapons should therefore soon be seen at the front again. But then in the service of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of September, Kiev’s armed forces have been conducting a counter-offensive in north-eastern Ukraine. So far with success. Not only have Russian units hastily withdrawn from large parts of the Kharkiv region, they have also left behind huge amounts of war material in their hasty flight. Photos and videos on social media show not only full ammunition depots, but also abandoned tanks and other military vehicles that have fallen into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers.
Among the confiscated vehicles are some state-of-the-art weapon systems. Over the weekend, the first documented case of an abandoned Russian T-90M caused a stir. The tank was captured with no visible damage and with a radar-absorbing protective shell, Ukrainian news magazine Korrespondent reported. Photos of the vehicle could be verified by ntv. The T-90 was introduced to the Russian Armed Forces in 1992. The further developed M variant is the most modern version, which was only put into service two years ago.
Last week, military bloggers reported the seizure of an armored vehicle that is part of the Russian Borisoglebsk-2 weapon system. The system is used for electronic warfare and is intended to impede the enemy’s satellite communications and disrupt radio navigation systems. The Borisoglebsk-2 has been used by Moscow’s armed forces since 2015.
The blog WarSpotting has set itself the goal of documenting Russian material losses since the beginning of the war. According to the database, from the start of the Kharkiv counteroffensive to September 17, the Ukrainian armed forces captured 74 tanks, 143 infantry fighting vehicles and 15 multiple rocket launchers, among other things. The blog bases its research on photos on social networks. The data should therefore be treated with caution.
For the Ukrainian armed forces, the captured vehicles are likely to be just as important as the gains made in terrain. Because Russia’s army has significantly more heavy artillery and tanks than Ukraine. The situation is aggravated by the fact that many of Kiev’s arms factories have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Kiev’s troops have been using captured military equipment and repairing it.
The advantage: most of the weapons that date back to Soviet times are familiar to the soldiers. Tanks like the T-72 are also widely used in the Ukrainian army. But Russian military vehicles introduced after 1991 are also useful. Because they are often modernizations of older types. As a result, there is a high probability that spare parts will still be available for them in the Ukrainian depots.
