While waiting for Western armored vehicles, the Ukrainians are forced into makeshift repairs
“To win this war, we need additional military equipment, heavy equipment. Our cooperation with our allies continues and all I can say now is that we have started getting heavy equipment”recalls Andriy Yermak, chief of staff at the Ukrainian presidency, in a message posted today on Telegram.
In fact, Ukrainian tank crews have to make do with what they have, namely old models of Soviet-designed tanks with rustic comfort, such as the T-64. To face the winter, they resort to do-it-yourself – sometimes with the means at hand, like a box of cat food converted into a paraffin candle – to stay warm in their tanks. The drivers of these machines hope to one day obtain real on-board heating, if the Western allies accede to kyiv’s requests for newer and more modern tanks.
Near Lyman, a ravaged town recaptured from Russian forces in October but still close to the front, the commander commanding a tank brigade admits: “The cold is the least of our worries. (…) The situation is very difficult, the equipment is breaking” and the ammunition is missing, he lists to Agence France-Presse (AFP) under the falling snow. Near him, a young mechanic is working under an armored vehicle in the icy mud, dug in deep crevices left by the tracks of machines heading towards the front.
“We don’t have spare parts to maintain the tanks and the tracks break, so if our maintenance brigade sees tanks that have been hit, they take what they need”explains the commander.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba this week called on Westerners providing the country with military aid for more ammunition, artillery, anti-aircraft systems and armored infantry. Interest has focused in particular on the German Leopard 2 battle tank, which Poland, which has one, said it was ready to supply to kyiv, subject to the green light from Berlin.
These more modern tanks outperform their Soviet counterparts in many ways, but most important is where ammo is stored. “In a Soviet tank, the crew is sitting on the ammunition, so if the tank is hit, it almost certainly means that 100% of the crew is dead”explains Captain Volodymyr Tchaikovsky, while in the Leopard the shells are stored behind an armored panel instead of the crew compartment. “What matters most to us is the safety of our crews, and their lives are our priority. Equipment can be replaced, personnel cannotaccording to Mr. Tchaikovsky. This is the main reason why we need western tanks. Everything else – GPS, night vision, thermal vision… – comes following. »
Mark Cancian, an analyst with the American think tank CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), also stresses the importance of this point. Although for some it is a “design flaw” of the Leopard – storing ammunition in the rear makes the tank bigger and makes it an easier target to hit – the expert speaks rather of a ” compromise “. Which the Ukrainians seem largely ready to do.
According to Cancian, the newer tanks also have better target acquisition systems and can strike at longer ranges than the tanks used by Russia and Ukraine. These systems can notably be installed in the T-72, also of Soviet design, which constitutes the bulk of the fleet of some 700 tanks that Ukraine had when Russia launched its invasion on February 24, 2022, assures Mr. Cancian.
And updating these T-72s might be a better option for Ukraine, he believes, rather than hoping for the arrival of the Leopards which, given the number announced, “will not be a miracle cure”. Because, even if dozens of machines are sent to Ukraine, “we are more in the symbol than in a real military potential”, for Mr. Cancian. But for Captain Tchaikovsky, whose 25-year-old son is a lieutenant in his battalion, Western help is essential: “If we don’t have support from abroad, the conflict will drag on and there will be more casualties. »
