Spoils Of War: Ukrainian Fighters Show Off Captured Russian Hardware

This image of a captured Russian 2S19 Msta-S self-propelled howitzer was released on September 12 by the Ukrainian military. 

The photo is one of scores that have emerged in recent days showing Russian hardware apparently abandoned by the invaders while retreating from swaths of northeastern Ukraine. 

Russian amphibious armored vehicles that foundered while crossing a waterway in the Kharkiv region.  

The Kremlin has claimed recent territorial losses in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive were planned to "achieve the stated goals of liberating Donbas" from Ukrainian control, but the flood of images of abandoned and captured Russian hardware on social media suggest a chaotic retreat. 

On September 11, Ukrainian military volunteer Pasha Kashchuk posted this and several other images to his Facebook page showing a captured Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone. 

An instruction manual in the boxed Orlan drone system. 

The fixed-wing Russian drones have been shot down and recovered in previous battles in Ukraine, but the latest discovery is notable for the entire Orlan-10 system, including transmitter aerials and detailed instructional booklets, being seized along with the aircraft. 

Russian grenade launchers captured by advancing Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region. 

Ukrainian politician Yulia Yatsyk poses with a captured Russian vehicle in the Kharkiv region in a photo posted to her Facebook page on September 11. 

A Russian tank is loaded aboard a transporter in the Kharkiv region in a photo released by the Ukrainian military on September 11.

Kyiv shut off access for journalists to the counteroffensive in the northeast, meaning much of the imagery coming from the region is restricted to what the Ukrainian and Russian governments have allowed to be released. 

 

An abandoned Russian IMR-2 combat engineering vehicle reportedly photographed near the northeastern city of Izyum.

Despite the massive Ukrainian territorial gains in recent days, videos from pro-Kremlin channels circulating on Telegram indicate at least some of the Ukrainian counteroffensive faced lethal resistance. 

Russian armored vehicles equipped with advanced optical systems photographed in Balaklia. The eastern Ukrainian city was declared recaptured by Kyiv the same day this photo was taken, on September 10. 

Pasha Kashchuk poses with a captured Russian vehicle and samurai sword in the Kharkiv region. 

Ukrainian troops gather for a photo around a 2S19 Msta that was reportedly abandoned during the Russian retreat. The self-propelled howitzers are among Russia's most formidable artillery pieces and are valued at around $1.5 million per unit. 

An abandoned Russian position in Balaklia on September 10. Still-packaged rocket-propelled grenades can be seen among discarded ammunition boxes and artillery shells. 

A Russian armored vehicle, captured by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region. The vehicle was partly covered by a tarpaulin that would have helped to hide it from drones. 

An abandoned Russian checkpoint made from ammunition boxes and a tree in the Kharkiv region.

On September 12, Britain's Defense Ministry said in a report that the lightning Ukrainian advance that has retaken several towns key to Russia's invasion logistics has "significant implications for Russia's overall operational design."