Russia has reportedly started using Nazi-era weapons in its four-year-long war on Ukraine, as its military stockpiles dwindle and the Kremlin scrambles to rearm its forces. Ukraine's "Tur" reconnaissance unit said it discovered cone-shaped Nazi detonators, bearing swastikas and stamped 1934, in a Russian depot.
"Nazi weapons are still being used to kill people," the unit claimed, as per The NY Post. "The Hitler and Stalin regimes are gone, but the Putin regime has replaced them; the names differ, but the essence remains the same."
Ukraine's Major Oleh Shyriaiev said Russia's reliance on outdated technology is not uncommon. "We have seen many times that Russia has been using equipment from the times of the Second World War," he told The NYP on Wednesday.
The discovery shows Russia's historical links with Nazi Germany during World War II. On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Poland, which had already been weakened by fighting Germany.
Agreements between the USSR and Germany in 1939 and 1940 gave the Soviets military equipment, including detonators with swastikas. Ukrainian authorities say the found devices have been stored in Russian depots since then.
Oleh Shriaiev said Russian troops have been using bolt-action Mosin-Nagant rifles, taken from military museums, on modern battlefields. The Mosin rifle was developed in the late 19th century and predates the AK-47 by two generations, making it "fairly not a particularly modern piece."
US Special Presidential Envoy Keith said, "[Russia is] pulling tanks out of mothballs, out of museums, to put on the battle line," he said. "They can't operate in large movements because the Ukrainians will kill them. And Ukrainians are fighting valiantly on there."
Russia has also repurposed World War II ship guns on lightly armoured trailers and attempted to modernise early infantry fighting vehicles from storage, Oleh Shyriaiev added. Intelligence also confirms that North Korea has supplied ammunition to Russia amid shortages.
