Russia increasingly uses Ladas for assaults, but this is a last resort, - The Telegraph
Date: 2025-02-05 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
The Russian army has increasingly begun to use civilian cars for assault operations at the front. Numerous videos have already been published on the Internet in which the occupiers use Lada cars to assault Ukrainian positions - some of them with military paint and anti-drone grids installed, writes retired British army officer and military observer Colonel Richard Camp in an article for The Telegraph.
He notes that even Russia, which has enormous human resources, cannot afford to "endlessly throw away the lives of its soldiers", so the use of Lada cars is a last resort.
"I remember how during the Balkan wars, the warring parties used civilian cars in combat, and Toyota pickups have long been the favorite transport of jihadists throughout the Middle East and Africa. But why is Russia doing this, which has the second most powerful army in the world?" asks Camp.
And he answers - according to the Dutch analytical site Oryx, the Russian troops have lost more than 15,000 units of heavy equipment in three years of war. In addition, it is emphasized that the Russian industry cannot compensate for the annual losses in equipment (~ 6,000 units). And if until recently Russia made up for the lack of equipment by sending armored vehicles and tanks from the Cold War to the front, now Ladas are being used.
Camp emphasized that small arms can easily penetrate the thin steel body of a Russian car. "Just imagine what it must be like for a young Russian soldier to be driving towards Ukrainian artillery, anti-tank missiles, drones and mines, all crammed into the back of his family car," he says. He recalls feeling vulnerable even while sitting in a Challenger tank with advanced Chobham armour in Iraq in 1991.
"Despite Russia's gradual advance into Ukraine, the lack of combat equipment is likely to be a factor in [Kremlin dictator] Putin's desire to call a ceasefire, even if only to regroup and rearm," says a retired British Army officer.
