As Russians desperately run away from their positions in Ukraine in the last week like they’re Josh Hawley fleeing the violent mob he stoked, the Ukrainian military has collected more than 200 operational tanks and other armored vehicles the Russians have abandoned on the battlefield, Foreign Policy reports.
As they continue an offensive to retake ground in the Kharkiv Oblast that has liberated more land than the Russians have taken since April, the Ukrainians have also captured working armored vehicles from amphibious troop carriers to scores of tanks. The equipment is being examined and refurbished so it can go back to the front lines–this time with Ukrainians at the controls.
“They just left their tanks, artillery, special equipment, a lot of armor, and were just trying to save their lives,” a Ukrainian military official told Foreign Policy. “They will be used against Russia. … “The U.S. didn’t start their Lend-Lease program, but instead of the U.S., the Russian government started a Lend-Lease program for Ukrainian forces.”
The spoils of war obtained by Ukraine include numerous variants of Soviet-era T-80 tanks, the tank that comprises the majority of Russia’s combat-ready inventory. They’ll join the 6,500 tanks the Ukrainians had prior to the February invasion.
Ukrainian officials have been pushing Western government to supply them with more modern armor, including pressuring the US to provide M-1 Abrams tanks or pushing for German Leopards, a tank made since the late 1970s that Ukrainian forces can more easily adapt to using. US military observers have noted the Ukrainians are taking captured Russian equipment of all kinds and adapting them to their use, including up-arming Russian vehicles with missile systems and other armaments provided by NATO members.