- Over half of Ukraine’s deployed tank forces may be captured by fleeing Russian forces.
- British intelligence said Ukraine is believed to have captured more than 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles.
- These withdrawals come as Russian forces rapidly withdraw from positions in various regions.
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As their war in Ukraine worsens, Russian troops retreating from their positions – first around Kyiv and now along the eastern and southern fronts – have left behind vast quantities of weapons, ammunition and other equipment.
During the war, advancing Ukrainian troops are believed to have captured at least 440 Russian tanks and 650 armored vehicles, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on Friday. He added that the captured vehicles may make up more than half of Ukraine’s deployed tank forces.
“Repurposed captured Russian equipment now makes up a large part of Ukraine’s military equipment,” the British Ministry of Defense said. “The failure of Russian crews to destroy intact equipment before withdrawing or surrendering highlights their poor level of training and low levels of combat discipline.”
In Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv, where Kyiv’s troops are continuing a week-long counteroffensive that has liberated thousands of square miles of territory previously under Russian occupation, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces fleeing advancing Ukrainian forces left rifles, tanks and other armaments.
These recent conquests, combined with what Russian troops left behind when they withdrew from Kyiv in the spring, have even made Russia Ukraine’s largest supplier of heavy weapons by sheer volume.
Ukrainian soldiers board a refurbished Russian tank in a wooded area outside the city on September 26, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
“With Russian formations under severe strain in several sectors and increasingly demoralized troops, Russia is likely to continue to lose heavy armaments,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Friday.
In addition to what Ukraine has received from Russia, it continues to enjoy military aid and other arms packages from Western countries, including the United States, which announced a $625 million security aid package as recently as this week.
Such support has consistently drawn the ire of Putin, senior Kremlin officials and Russian diplomats, who regularly complain that the West continues to arm Ukraine. The Russian leadership has threatened that the conflict could widen and escalate if the trend continues, but these complaints and threats have failed to dissuade Western countries.
“The United States will continue to consult closely with Ukraine to meet evolving battlefield requirements in coordination with our allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the capabilities it needs,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia’s Laura Cooper to reporters in a briefing earlier this week.
“As President Biden has said, the United States will continue to stand by the Ukrainian people and provide them with the security assistance they need to defend themselves for as long as necessary.”
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