A recent report on the weapons and military vehicles used in the Ukraine conflict provides evidence for both sides of the argument.
Released late last year by the research company Armament Research Services, or ARES, the report cites several examples of cross-border matériel support to separatists and rebels fighting the government in Kiev. Certain items the researchers came across gave their team pause, as these weapons had been introduced into service only after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union or had never been documented outside the countries that developed them.
Nic R. Jenzen-Jones, the director of ARES, was able to positively identify 20 weapons systems in Ukraine that had never previously been exported from their country of origin. Nineteen of those came from Russia, and one was from Poland. He calls these “flag items” because they can be clearly tied to outside nations.
From Russia, ARES identified exotic killing tools like the VSS suppressed marksman rifle, heavy armor like the T-72B3 main battle tank, and newer thermobaric rocket launchers like the MRO-A that have not been seen outside the Federation’s borders.
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