Ukraine war: Depleted forces ‘use own cars’ in combat

Ukrainian reserve forces are so short of equipment that they have been sent to fight against Russian tanks in their civilian cars, ­Canada’s former chief of defence staff said.

A Ukrainian soldier sits in an armoured car in the suburbs of Kyiv. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian reserve forces are so short of equipment that they have been sent to fight against Russian tanks in their civilian cars, ­Canada’s former chief of defence staff said after visiting the country.

Rick Hillier, a retired general, said the territorial defence force of civilian volunteers had been left with “nothing” and desperately needed equipment to take on the Russians.

One unit had been told to move to a frontline position in its cars to meet attacking Russian tanks and armoured fighting vehicles.

“They were getting into position to be able to fight against those Russian tanks and vehicles and they were using their own civilian cars,” he said.

Mr Hillier said the initial remit for reservists had been to defend their own villages but President Volodymyr Zelensky had recently signed an order saying they had to deploy anywhere in Ukraine to ­defend the country. However, the regular Ukrainian forces were being given the limited supply of equipment, leaving them short.

In a separate incident, Mr Hillier said he had met a father and son “tank-hunting team” from a territorial defence battalion who had destroyed four modernised T-72 main battle tanks with old RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades in an ­attack northwest of Kyiv in March.

It took 21 separate shots to ­destroy one of the tanks under the cover of darkness, he said, adding it illustrated how poor the Russian tactics were and what few options they had left.

“You just admire their courage and their valour,” Mr Hillier said.

“As they kept saying to me, ‘we will do the job but we need the equipment’. They were determined; this was their home. They were going to defend it, they weren’t letting the Russians in. I looked at those individuals and around them were hundreds of thousands like them.”

The former general is leading a new advisory council in partnership with the Ukrainian World Congress, a non-governmental ­organisation representing the Ukrainian diaspora.

The Strategic Advisory Council is trying to secure more weapons for the territorial defence force, which acts as a support to the main Ukrainian armed forces.

During his recent visit to the country, Mr Hillier said the Ukrainians did not have “nearly enough artillery” and were outnumbered 12 to one. The deputy minister of defence told him they needed 400 long-range multiple-launch rocket systems, not just the handful that were being delivered.

The territorials also needed ­robust drones that could be operated at a significant distance and loiter for several hours.

The Times