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Russian forces left behind “hidden arsenals” containing weapons and ammunition as they retreated from Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) found the Russian caches from the counter-subversive measures carried out in the border areas of the country’s northern Chernihiv province, the agency claimed in a statement released Tuesday.
Russian forces retreated from Chernihiv in April following a failed bid to capture the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
“The occupiers left hidden arsenals during their escape from the northern regions of Ukraine against the counteroffensive of [Ukrainian forces],” a machine translation of the SBU’s statement read.
Almost 300 artillery munitions, including those used for BM-21 “Grad” self-propelled multiple-launch rocket systems, were found in one of the settlements under the Minsk Territorial Community.
Meanwhile, an RPG-26 rocket-propelled anti-tank grenade and almost 300 rounds of various calibers were found in an abandoned building in the district of Koryukivka, according to the SBU.
A tank machine gun and 1,500 cartridges for the weapon were also discovered at a former Russian checkpoint in Chernihiv.
SBU employees found more than 100 charges for hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers in a forest strip near the regional center.
All the seized weapons and ammunition have been handed over to units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the SBU claimed.
Russian forces have been abandoning equipment in Ukraine throughout the war, particularly during retreats.
Captured materiel ranged from gear and weapons to heavy equipment such as main battle tanks and armored fighting vehicles.
Around 2,694 Russian vehicles have been captured in the war, according to Oryx, an open-source analytical initiative that tracks military equipment losses.
Among them were several T-90Ms, the latest variant of Russia’s T-90 main battle tank.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense announced in October that captured T-90s had entered service with the Ukrainian army.
Russia has reportedly become Ukraine’s largest supplier of heavy weapons following the latter’s gains in the war.
Amid reports of its losses, Russia has ramped up its production of weapons, including those “of the most powerful means of destruction,” former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this month.
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