Ukraine rushes military gear back from Saudi Arabia arms show

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Heavily outnumbered and desperate for arms, Ukraine will be rushing equipment currently on display at Saudi Arabia’s World Defence Show back to the front lines, an arms exporter told The National on Monday.

“Our booth was opened months ago, so we were not able to change anything, and after the show is over, all the equipment you see here, the armoured vehicles and the other stuff, will immediately be sent back to Ukraine for the needs of our men,” said Maxim Potimkov, regional director of Spets Technoexport, a Ukrainian state-owned foreign trade enterprise.

Ukraine’s armed forces have struggled to hold back the Russian army, despite inflicting enormous losses, as they have poured over the country's borders since February 24.

Russia has sent about 3,000 tanks into the fight, more than three times the number of main battle tanks available to Ukraine — although Moscow could field far more if initial setbacks continue. Russia has the largest fleet of tanks in the world, numbering more than 12,000 by some estimates, although the operational readiness of many of these tanks is uncertain.

Sending such large amounts of armour — including thousands of supporting wheeled and tracked armoured personnel carriers into Ukraine has revealed an Achilles’ heel for the Russians. Invading troops have struggled to keep high maintenance, gas-guzzling vehicles in action, over 250km into Ukrainian territory.

Russian tanks have also proven vulnerable to modern anti-tank weapons, including thousands of advanced Javelin anti-tank missiles supplied by the US, and thousands of New Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons supplied by the UK and Sweden.

But despite plentiful infantry anti-tank weapons, Ukraine is still in need of armoured vehicles.

Ukrainian forces have had to move around the country quickly, defending key areas from sudden Russian helicopter-borne infantry attacks, and rushing to fill gaps in front lines across large expanses of terrain.

This means armoured vehicles displayed by the Ukrainians at the arms fair, including the Kozark 7 and Kozark 2M tactical vehicles, could be invaluable in thwarting attacks, especially in the muddy terrain that characterises the Ukrainian spring thaw, the famous Rasputitsa that delayed countless German armoured attacks during the Second World War.