WSJ: Ukraine’s new offensive is fueled by captured Russian weapons

Captured and abandoned Russian tanks, howitzers and fighting vehicles—quickly scrubbed of their Z tactical markers and repainted with Ukrainian crosses—are being turned against their former owners as Ukraine’s military advances in the eastern part of the country.

Ukraine’s rapid breakthrough in the Kharkiv region a month ago ended up putting hundreds of pieces of Russian armour into Kyiv’s hands, military officials say, as the Russian army left behind its heavy weapons and warehouses of supplies in a disorganized retreat, The Wall Street Journal reported on October 5.

One Ukrainian battalion, the Carpathian Sich, seized 10 modern T-80 tanks and five 2S5 Giatsint 152-mm self-propelled howitzers after it entered the town of Izyum last month, said its deputy chief of staff, Ruslan Andriyko.

The chief of staff of a Ukrainian artillery battalion on the Kharkiv front said his unit now operates four recently captured Russian 2S19 Msta 152-mm self-propelled howitzers, alongside American-made guns, and now has abundant Soviet-caliber ammunition.

Combined with weapons taken during Russia’s retreat from Kyiv and other parts of northern Ukraine in April, these recent gains have turned Moscow into by far the largest supplier of heavy weapons for Ukraine, well ahead of the U.S. or other allies in sheer numbers, according to open-source intelligence analysts. Western-provided weapons, though, are usually more advanced and precise.

Ukraine has captured 460 Russian main battle tanks, 92 self-propelled howitzers, 448 infantry fighting vehicles, 195 armoured fighting vehicles and 44 multiple-launch rocket systems, according to visual evidence compiled from social media and news reports from Oryx, an open-source intelligence consulting firm. The real number is likely higher as not every captured piece of equipment gets filmed.

Russia has also seized Ukrainian weapons, mostly in the early days of the war as it overran large parts of the country. According to Oryx’s count, Russia captured 109 Ukrainian tanks, 15 self-propelled guns and 63 infantry fighting vehicles since February.

At Izyum, Ukraine gained more advanced Russian armour, such as T-90 tanks and BTR-82 infantry fighting vehicles with automatic cannon. The commander of Ukraine’s 92nd brigade, which played a major role on the Kharkiv front, was filmed this week taking a ride in a T-90, which wasn’t part of the Ukrainian arsenal before the war.

Western allies haven’t sent Western-made tanks to Ukraine. But Kyiv has received around 230 upgraded T-72 tanks from Poland and a few dozen more from the Czech Republic. American and European aid focused on providing Ukraine with North Atlantic Treaty Organization-standard precision artillery, such as the U.S.-made M777 and Paladin, German Panzerhaubitze 2000 and Polish Krab howitzers, as well as the Himars missile systems. These weapons allowed Kyiv to hold the line once it started to run out of Soviet-caliber artillery shells in May.

While Ukrainian units often keep smaller captured weapons and ammunition, big-ticket items such as tanks and artillery are usually redistributed through the military’s logistics command, said Oleksiy Danilov, head of the country’s National Security and Defense Council. “But, even then, they usually stay in the same area, which is only fair,” he added.