The covert shop where Ukrainians rebuild captured Russian tanks

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The Leopards are coming. So are the Challengers and the Abrams. But the NATO-standard main battle tanks from Germany, Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere may not arrive in time to allow Ukrainian forces to punch a hole in the Russian offensive expected in the next month or two.

The fairly slow pace of delivery of those tanks, and the weeks or months required to train their crews, means Ukraine is rushing to repair as many pieces of armour as it can. And that includes Russian armour.

In a sprawling array of interconnected warehouses in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military is overhauling captured pieces of Russian equipment – mostly tanks and infantry fighting vehicles – so they can be used to fight the country that built them.

The maintenance battalion of the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which is in charge of the covert operation, refers to the captured Russian armour as “trophies” or “lend-lease” vehicles, the latter a playful reference to the Second World War program that saw the U.S. supply Britain and the Soviet Union with convoys of military aid.

“I am eager to fix Russian equipment,” said Ruslan Anatoliyovych, a senior soldier in the maintenance battalion. “It boosts our morale to send Russian equipment back to destroy Russians.”

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The brigade invited The Globe and Mail to tour the repair site on the condition that its location not be disclosed and that no photos be published that could help identify its whereabouts, such as panoramic outdoor shots. The visit was on a frigid day that made working conditions inside the warehouses more difficult than usual.

The buildings are in as bad a shape as the armour that is dragged in. The vast main hall has a dirt floor. Many of the upper windows are missing, allowing chilly air to waft through the building. A dozen or so soldier mechanics, each of them covered in dirt, diesel fuel and grease, some of them smoking, banged away on the machines’ enormous diesel engines. Parts and coiled-up tank treads were strewn everywhere.

Shortly after The Globe arrived, two of the mechanics smiled as they managed to start the 15.8-litre diesel engine of a Soviet-era BMP-1 tracked infantry fighting vehicle, a fairly light machine armed with a 73 mm gun and designed to transport eight soldiers into combat. The engine spewed clouds of diesel fumes, enveloping the two men in what looked like thick fog.

Outside, where a few Russian T-72 tanks and one T-80 were parked, soldiers warmed their hands over a fire in an empty oil barrel. A couple of the tanks were still covered in camouflage. One T-72 appeared in good shape and was awaiting repairs to its electrical unit. Standing on the turret housing the 125 mm cannon, the tank’s heavily bearded commander said the machine would be ready for combat in a few days.

Most of the Russian equipment was captured during the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kharkiv province, in Ukraine’s northeast, in early September. Less than a month later, the Ukrainians had recaptured some 12,000 square kilometres of territory, allowing them to feast on the Russian armour that had been left behind.

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Some of the equipment was beyond repair, but a lot of it was in fairly good shape. Many machines were simply abandoned after running out of fuel or because their terrified crews had fled on foot.

Oryx, the Dutch open-source defence intelligence site, has collected photos of about 550 captured Russian tanks, though the total number of tanks and other armoured vehicles abandoned by the Russians is thought to be much higher.

Mechanics at the warehouse said the Soviet-era equipment, such as the BMP-1, is hard to fix. Many were built in the 1970s and eighties, so spare parts often cannot be found. Some of those machines are used as parts “donors” for the equipment that has a reasonable chance of being put back into action.

The T-72 tanks are somewhat easier to repair because they are a mainstay of both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, so parts can usually be found.

Mr. Anatoliyovych said engine repair is typically the main work on captured T-72s and BMP-1s. “They can be repaired in as little as two days, or two weeks, depending on the state of the engine,” he said.

He said that half or more of the Russian equipment that enters the shop is returned to fighting form. The operation has sent about 50 pieces of armour, including 10 T-72s, to the front lines since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion almost a year ago.

T-72 Ural main battle tank (original version)

Road speed: 60 km/h,

cross country, 35 km/h

Crew: 3. Commander, gunner, driver

Gun system: 125 mm smooth-bore

with coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun

12.7 mm

machine gun

Weight:

41 tonnes

Range:

500 km

9.53 m

Engine: V-46 780-horsepower, 12-cylinder diesel;

1,200-litre fuel capacity

the globe and mail, Source: graphic news;

military-today.com

T-72 Ural main battle tank (original version)

Road speed: 60 km/h,

cross country, 35 km/h

Crew: 3. Commander, gunner, driver

Gun system: 125 mm smooth-bore

with coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun

12.7 mm

machine gun

Weight:

41 tonnes

Range:

500 km

9.53 m

Engine: V-46 780-horsepower, 12-cylinder diesel;

1,200-litre fuel capacity

the globe and mail, Source: graphic news;

military-today.com

T-72 Ural main battle tank (original version)

Road speed: 60 km/h,

cross country, 35 km/h

Crew: 3. Commander, gunner, driver

Gun system: 125 mm smooth-bore

with coaxial 7.62 mm machine gun

12.7 mm

machine gun

Weight:

41 tonnes

Range:

500 km

9.53 m

Engine: V-46 780-horsepower, 12-cylinder diesel; 1,200-litre fuel capacity

the globe and mail, Source: graphic news; military-today.com

The shop does not work in isolation. The Serhiy Prytula Foundation, a Ukrainian charity, is helping to fund the repairs. “It’s kind of symbolic that invaders are being confronted with the weapons they brought here themselves,” its website says.

A big repair shop in Poland is also on the job, though it is fixing Ukraine’s NATO-supplied weapons, such as the Polish-built AHS Krab self-propelled howitzer. The Polish site will probably repair the Leopard 2 tanks Ukraine will be receiving. Canada is supplying four of them, the first of which was airlifted to Poland on Feb. 4.

While Ukraine awaits the 100-plus tanks from NATO countries, the repair warehouse in Ukraine will be working flat out. Working there is not just an act of duty for the 14th brigade; it is an act of patriotism for civilians such as Ruslan Saichuk, 57, a chicken farmer whose two sons are serving in the Ukrainian army. He left the farm to work as a mechanic in the warehouse. “For me, the most important thing is repairing this equipment fast,” he said. “This is helping to speed up Ukraine’s victory.”

With a file from Anton Skyba

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