Bad news for Putin, good news for Ukraine: Ukrainian forces captured a batch of intact Russian missiles and fired them back at Russian troops, CNN reported on Monday.
Russian troops trying to invade Kyiv from the northwestern city of Hostomel on Sunday were attacked with their own weapons, Yuri Golodov, the deputy commander of one of Ukraine’s Territorial Forces, told CNN.
“Last night we sent the Ukrainian armed forces 24 Uragan missiles that were on their way here to fly over our cities,” Golodov told CNN on Monday.
“We captured them intact, gave them to the Armed Forces of Ukraine at night, and now the Ukrainian army has fired missiles back at them,” he added.
Golodov leads a team of Ukrainian soldiers working to repair and repaint Russian military equipment that has been captured or abandoned.
The Ukrainian soldiers work on different types of military vehicles, from a junkyard in Kyiv, fixing broken parts, removing communications systems, and painting over any Russian military symbols, CNN reported.
“It looks like old weaponry, but actually if you use it correctly it will serve us for a long time,” Golodov told CNN, referring to an artillery support vehicle that was under reconstruction.
“Everything that we take away from the Russian army, we transfer to the armed forces of Ukraine.”
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joked that Russia had become a major arms supplier to Ukraine because so much of its equipment had been captured by Ukrainian forces.
“We take trophies and use them to protect Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said a video address. “Today, Russian troops are, in fact, one of the suppliers of equipment to our army.”
Ukraine’s Armed Forces said Monday that Russian troops had lost 498 tanks, 121 helicopters, and 1,535 armored personnel carriers since the start of the conflict on February 24. The figures have not been verified.
Sophia Ankel is a News Reporter based in London. She also has bylines in the Guardian, The Independent, and VICE. Sophia has spoken about her work on BBC Three Radio.
