Russia has continued its invasion of Ukraine, a country with a military budget smaller than that of the city-state Singapore — but Ukrainians have proven to be resourceful in their acquisition of military supplies. Now, Reuters reports that one auto shop has stopped repairing cars and is instead adapting Russian military weapons for use by the Ukrainian military.
Here’s a little more from the story:
Oleksandr Fedchenko said he had been throwing around ideas with staff at his car repair shop after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last month, wondering how they could help outgunned local forces.
“It turned out that there are people working at our shop who know how weapons work,” he said.
Ukrainian forces have stripped large quantities of Russian heavy machine guns and other weapons from armoured vehicles they have destroyed in the three weeks since the Kremlin launched what it called a special military operation in Ukraine.
The biggest issue is that, while Russia has a formidable wheeled military force, Ukrainian soldiers predominately fight on foot. A massive machine gun from an armoured vehicle obviously can’t be used by a single person walking through the streets, so Fedchenko got together a team of welders and engineers, provided them with drafts for how he thought the weaponry could be altered, and gave the experts the space to carry out the work.
This is yet another example of Ukrainian ingenuity in the face of this ongoing conflict. A Russian EV company that outsourced its main components to a Ukrainian company had to deal with chargers displaying anti-Russian messages. Ukrainian truckers have started transporting emergency goods to conflict-torn areas. One Ukrainian sailor allegedly tried to sink his Russian boss’ yacht. And there are plenty of stories of average Ukrainian farmers who just so happened to acquire Russian tanks. It only makes sense that they’d start converting weapons, too.