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This article in German.
The Ukrainian army is still receiving insufficient heavy artillery to repel Russian attacks in the Donbas region. France delivered only 12 Caesar self-propelled artillery mounts. Germany, probably, someday will still decide on the supply of seven 2000 self-propelled howitzers.
Meanwhile, Russian invaders are bombarding cities in eastern Ukraine with their seemingly endless supply of rockets.
Since the Ukrainians do not receive enough support, they help themselves by repairing captured Russian grenade launchers and firing them at those who once belonged to them.
In a forested area somewhere in eastern Ukraine, not far from the city of Izyum, occupied by Russian soldiers, Ukrainian artillery units were deployed. Two heavy trucks are moving forward, loaded with BM 21 grenade launchers and forty Grad missiles. “We captured these grenade launchers from the Russian army,” Sergey explains. “Now we will bombard Russian positions with them.”
Ukrainian engineers have again put captured weapons into service, and now Ukrainian artillery troops are using these systems when fighting against Russian occupiers. Heavy fighting has been going on around Izyum for several weeks already, the Russian army has already redeployed numerous units to this area in order to hold the strategically important city. Their advantage: compared to the Ukrainian defenders, they have a superior amount of heavy artillery and salvo rocket systems. Therefore, Ukrainian soldiers also use captured weapons, for example, both grenade launchers, despite the fact that they are already several decades old. Some tires still bear the inscription “Made in USSR” (they were produced in the USSR and, apparently, originally intended for export).
9M22 unguided rockets have a range of 20 km, their warhead weighs almost 20 kg. After checking and final loading of ammunition, the grenade launchers will go to combat positions: the lead vehicle drives forward, followed by both trucks with grenade launchers.
Then everything must be done very quickly: the grenade launchers go out into the open field, where they can be easily detected and, in turn, destroyed by Russian artillery or aircraft. After both grenade launchers are put on alert, the commander checks the coordinates again, then he gives the order to start firing: “First and second! Every twentieth sight! Get ready! Fire!”
With an infernal roar, three-meter rockets fly out of their barrels every half a second. In a few seconds, all 20 charges have already been fired from each grenade launcher. The soldiers immediately jump into the trucks and leave quickly, without waiting for a Russian attack in return.
Everything is going well: captured Russian grenade launchers are sent to their hiding places, where they are again equipped with shells, ready for the next attack.
