Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joked on Tuesday that the Russian army is helping to arm Ukrainians because so many of their military equipment is either captured or abandoned.
“As before, the enemy is confused. They did not expect such resistance,” Zelenskyy said about Russian troops in an address early Tuesday morning, according to Insider. “Their soldiers know this. Their officers are aware of this. They flee the battlefield. They abandon equipment.”
“We take trophies and use them to protect Ukraine,” he added. “Today, Russian troops are, in fact, one of the suppliers of equipment to our army. They could not imagine such a thing in a nightmare.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, they’ve lost 404 tanks and 1,279Â military vehicles, according to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Ukrainian factories are currently working on repairing damaged Russian equipment captured in the fighting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said last week.
Since the invasion videos have emerged on social media showing the Ukrainian people taking Russian military equipment apparently abandoned. Ukrainian authorities told citizens last week that captured Russian tanks did not need to be declared for tax purposes.
