ERR in Ukraine: Soldiers learning lessons in repair and maintenance of equipment
The very slow advances Russia has been making in eastern Ukraine has meant Ukrainian repair bases in Donbas have had to move back further from the frontline too.
At the same time, the Ukrainians have figured out new ways to protect equipment being sent to the rear for maintenance and repair, given the realities of drone warfare.
Earlier in the war, repair workshops for salvageable equipment, some of it captured from the Russian invaders, were located 20-30 kilometers from the front. Now the war has changed, however, and damaged equipment has to be transported around 100 kilometers to reach the same facilities.
This is mostly thanks to the advent of a drone-dominant air war.
"Take, for example, the Russian drone Orlan 10. It used to be a reconnaissance drone, but now it can carry two FPV drones. It's a relay device that can fly 30–40 kilometers. Then it starts to monitor the area and can, for instance, spot a military vehicle and strike it. So they're starting to cut through our logistics. Without logistics, there can be no warfare," one Ukrainian soldier, Kahovka, told ERR.
The daily work in returning still driveable materiel for maintenance includes making vehicle "cages," designed to protect equipment from enemy First-person view (FPV) drones.
"These vehicles have many moving parts. You need access to the trunk. Four passengers must be able to get inside. There must also be access to the engine. When the vehicle isn't in combat, the front mesh is opened, so the driver has better visibility. Every vehicle requires a personal approach," said another Ukrainian soldier, Oleh.
The cage approach has already proved its worth. In one case, a vehicle was hit twice at once: A shell hit from the front, and a drone essentially fell on the roof. Thanks to the cage, however, the crew survived and the vehicle drove itself out of the danger zone.
Over the past two years, the number of Western military vehicles on the front line has been rising, but even this has not significantly shifted the balance of power in Ukraine's favor.
"They have better armor, and the machines themselves are better, but we have to make do with what we have," according to another Ukrainian soldier, "Nightingale."
"Spare parts are always a problem. Western equipment is specific. NATO countries send their machinery back to the manufacturer for repairs. But we have to fix it ourselves," Kahovka noted.
There is no equivalent problem regarding spare parts for Soviet-era equipment in Ukrainian hands. While this is all necessarily old, it follows the old stereotype of Soviet military equipment being easy to patch up, when that is even necessary.
"The parts are available. Repairing this machinery isn't particularly difficult. It doesn't even need to be repaired that often—only when it's really necessary. Sometimes it gets hit, too," "Nightingale" noted.
A detailed map of the Ukraine frontlines updated in real time is here.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
