As war rages on in their homeland, the Ukrainian army discovered use for some of the dozens of vintage Russian army T-62 tanks it has captured.
The Ukrainians have begun converting the 1960s-era tanks into recovery vehicles, using them to tow or repair war-damaged, stuck, and unworkable armored fighting vehicles. The idea sparked from the fact that typically, tanks tend to get damaged rather than destroyed in battle.
The project, which cost $46,000, was reportedly fundraised through crowdfunding.
As it rebuilds units to send back into Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces are facing a tank shortage. They have resulted to using the 60-year-old T-62s to replace armor losses.
Since the beginning of the war, Western intelligence services have reported that the Russian defense industry has been crippled by sanctions. Russia is reportedly dependent on foreign electronics and materials.
A potential solution to Ukraine's need for more tanks
Ukraine had only around three dozen BREM-1, BREM-2, BREM-M, BREM-64 and BTS-4 ARVs when Russia launched its barrage on Ukraine in February 2022.
In January, the United States agreed to start a process that would eventually send dozens of M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine. But the process can take months and even years.
Ukraine says heavily armored Western battle tanks would give its troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive that Kyiv expects in the near future. They could also help Ukraine retake some of the territory that has fallen to Russia.
Michael Starr and Reuters contributed to this report.