“Transmitters, night vision equipment, thermal cameras, drones,” one of the garrison commanders of the frontline Zaporizhya region rapidly lists the most urgent equipment they need.
“Drones, cars – especially pickups trucks –, individual protection gear, body armor and helmets, radio transmitters,” adds a commander of the Kraken Battalion fighting in the Kharkiv area.
“Night vision equipment, thermal cameras, optical sights, rangefinders, tablet computers, pickup trucks,” the commander of a territorial defense brigade in the Dnipro region immediately behind the East Ukrainian frontline.
The commander of a battalion fighting at Donetsk tells Postimees that he could use all the above – they lack the same items – and explains: “We had four pickups with machine guns a month ago, but now there are none left.” He adds another somewhat surprising item to the list of equipment they need – ordinary solder’s spades. “If you need to change positions quickly, digging in is the first thing to do. We often have to equip new positions under artillery fire. This requires spades which we do not have,” he says.
One of the commanders of a Ukrainian brigade-strength volunteer unit operating to the north of Kharkiv says that some of his men still wear Soviet-era body armor and helmets. “This armor does not stop practically any bullets and the helmets can be cracked with a fist,” he characterizes his troops’ protective gear. “The men have to buy the most elementary protection on their own and the volunteer organizations are helping, of course.”