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Ukraine Is Using Captured Russian Tanks to Capture More Russian Tanks

T-90 Tank from Russia.
T-90 Tank. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

Ukrainians Use Captured Russian Tank to Capture More Russian Tanks: Video footage shared on social media shows Ukrainian forces continuing to capture and redeploy Russian tanks – and even using captured Russian tanks to commandeer more of them.

In one video recorded from inside of a car, a captured Russian tank towing a recently-captured Russian MT-LB armored personnel carrier.

In the footage, multiple Ukrainian soldiers can be seen sitting on top of the tank as it tows the captured MT-LB personnel carrier.

One soldier appears to wave as they pass the individual recording from inside their car.

The video, shared on Ukrainian social media channels and then re-uploaded to Twitter by Ukraine Weapons Tracker, is yet more evidence of Russian forces abandoning valuable machinery and weapons on the battlefield as the Kremlin attempts to keep its soldiers out of firing distance of Ukrainian missile systems.

While Russia addresses its worsening ammunition shortage problem, some Russian units appear willing to leave behind valuable equipment that has been damaged in combat – even if it means gifting repairable vehicles and machines to Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine Weapons Tracker claims that the video was recorded somewhere in Luhansk Oblast.

“A Russian MT-LB armored personnel carrier with a ZU-23-2 23mm autocannon was captured by Ukrainian forces in #Luhansk Oblast,” the account writes.

“Interestingly, the captured vehicle was recovered by a previously captured Russian T-72B3 tank.

Similar scenes have been witnessed throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Ukrainian troops frequently capturing damaged or abandoned Russian tanks whenever invading forces have retreated.

In one clip from earlier in the year, Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol can be seen operating a T-641M tank which is connected to a captured Russian T-72B3M tank, still emblazoned with multiple “Z” symbols on the side.

Around half a dozen Ukrainian soldiers can be seen aboard the Ukrainian tank, while another soldier can be seen operating the captured Russian tank as it is being towed.

Ukraine Is Capturing Modern Tanks, Too

Many of the tanks and armored personnel carriers captured by Ukrainian forces are old simply by nature of Russia not having the manufacturing capacity – or the components required – to build modern tanks.

The MT-LB seen captured in the video shared above is a Soviet-era multi-purpose tracked armored fighting vehicle that has been in use for roughly 70 years.

When Russia does deploy modern tanks, however, those tanks are also at risk of being captured after being damaged by Ukrainian strikes or left behind during Russian withdrawals.

A video shared on December 3 showed a Russian T-90M, a modern Russian main battle tank fitted with updated fire control systems and aiming devices, being captured by Ukrainian troops somewhere in Eastern Ukraine.

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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