Once dedicated to fixing civilian vehicles, an old depot a couple hours from the front lines in eastern Ukraine is now repairing, refurbishing and retrofitting captured Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and a mix of other pieces of donated or outdated military equipment.
“We’ve learned so much that sometimes military units come to us and learn from our mechanics, how to repair military equipment, both Soviet and foreign,” a lead mechanic in the shop said over Zoom. The sound of saws whirring and the vibration of drills could be heard behind him, as a few of the several dozen mechanics who work alongside him reclaimed old bits of military machinery.
The carcasses of old Russian and American-made military vehicles sit in scattered rows on the floor of the warehouse. The volunteer mechanics clamber across the different pieces of equipment, trying their best to learn what makes them tick.
“We are trying to evolve and we are trying to be better every time in hopes that we will reach the level of a true military facility,” said the lead mechanic who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he’s afraid his work could affect family living in a Russian-occupied area of the country.
Before the war, these mechanics fixed cars and trucks, trains and buses. As with so much in Ukraine, their focus is now on the Russian invaders and how to crack open Russian T-72 tanks, U.S.-made MRAP (mine-resistant, ambush-protected) vehicles and donated multiple-launch rocket systems that were brought to them for repair.
While Ukraine’s Western partners have spent months debating whether to provide tanks and other military pieces to Ukraine, volunteer mechanics quickly learned how an array of used military hardware works and made the fixes to return them to the battlefield.
“We have never dealt with military equipment before. This is a different type of facility. We weren’t prepared for this, but the war started and we had to push back the Russian Federation…
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