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Ukraine is getting Russian-made weapons to defeat its Russian invaders

Ukraine is getting Russian-made weapons to defeat its Russian invaders
  • Ukraine is receiving a steady flow of Soviet-made weapons to fight off Russia.

  • According to the Wall Street Journal, NATO countries have sent Ukraine 17,000 anti-tank weapons.

  • Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland have re-supplied Ukraine with Soviet-era weapons.

A large portion of the weapons being sent to Ukraine for its efforts to fight off Russian forces is Soviet-made weapons, according to The Wall Street Journal.

So far, multiple weeks into Russia's war on Ukraine, allies in NATO have sent 17,000 antitank weapons to Ukraine.

The majority of weapons are coming from Central European NATO countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Czech Republic has sent the most equipment, according to the report.

Some of the Soviet-made weapons include 12 Dragunov rifles and Strela-2 shoulder-fired missiles sent by Czech Republic, according to Reuters, as well as the 73mm BWP1 and SPG-9 ammunition sent by Poland.

Slovakia has also sent 12,000 rounds of Soviet-made anti-tank ammunition.

On Tuesday, Poland announced that it would deliver all of its MiG-29s fighter jets, which are Soviet-made planes, to a US airbase in Germany, which would allow the US to then transfer the fleet to Ukraine. Following Poland's announcement, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said that the plan, "raises serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance."

"It is simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it," Kirby tweeted. "We will continue to consult with Poland and our other NATO allies about this issue and the difficult logistical challenges it presents, but we do not believe Poland's proposal is a tenable one."

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on NATO to declare a no-fly zone over the country as Russia has continued its aerial campaign across the country. NATO has resisted the call, worrying that a no-fly zone could escalate the war across the continent.

Russian forces have waged an intense war on Ukraine since late February, engaging in heavy shelling and missile attacks that have hit residential buildings, an orphanage, kindergartens, and a children's hospital, according to the Ukrainian government.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, and Kyiv, the country's capital, have both been under intense shelling and airstrikes, and Kherson, Ukraine's third-largest city, was captured by Russia last week.

Russia's campaign so far has united Western nations in unprecedented ways, who have also unleashed wide-ranging sanctions on Putin and his allies, while global businesses and news outlets have ceased operations in Russia.

Read the original article on Business Insider