London: Russia is now Ukraine’s largest arms supplier as more than half of its tank fleet is likely to have been captured from Moscow’s men, it was revealed on Putins 70th birthday, media reports said.
Ukraine’s rout of Russia’s armies in Kharkiv oblast last month yielded huge amounts of gear, meaning more than 400 tanks, 600 armoured vehicles, and 44 multiple-launch rocket systems have been captured in working or near-working condition, Daily Mail reported.
It means that, in terms of pure numbers, Russia is now easily the largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine – outpacing all other allies combined, the report said.
British military intelligence believes that half of Ukraine’s tank fleet may now be made up of vehicles that Russia’s demoralised troops effectively handed over.
A Ministry of Defence update said on Friday: “Re-purposed or captured Russian equipment now makes up a lar proportion of Ukraine’s military hardware,” Daily Mail reported.
“Ukraine has likely captured at least 440 Russian main battle tanks, and around 650 other armoured vehicles since the invasion.
“Over half of Ukraine’s currently fielded tank fleet potentially consists of captured vehicles.
“The failure of Russian crews to destroy intact equipment before withdrawing or surrendering highlights their poor state of training and low levels of battle discipline.
“With Russian formations under severe strain in several sectors and increasingly demoralised troops, Russia will likely continue to lose heavy weponary.”
According to analysts in the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine has captured a total of 421 main battle tanks from Russia while all its other allies combine have supplied 320.
For armoured vehicles, the statistics are even more stark: 445 captured from Russia, compared to 210 they have been supplied with.
Only when it comes to multiple-launch rocket systems – such as HIMARS – does Wester-supplied gear outstrip what has been captured, but only barely: 70 donated compared to 44 captured.
IANS
