An overview of Azov Engineering Group's garage is seen on September 9, 2015 in Kyiv, Ukraine. At left is an inverted tank chassis in the process of being stripped down before being rebuilt as a new vehicle much like "Azovette" (top right), which went through a similar process. Image: Pete Kiehart
Geraldine Cremin, Motherboard: A Tour of Ukraine's 'Mad Max' Tank Factory
Roads in the east of Ukraine are littered with signs of war: roadblocks, craters, tanks, and camo-painted trucks. Occasionally a Mitsubishi L200 pickup painted in a striking geometric camouflage pattern will roll by. That’s Azov Battalion. Its trademark camo print covers its trucks and personnel carriers, and announces the battalion's arrival to battle on its custom-built tanks and armored vehicles.
Motherboard spoke to a few Azov soldiers and found out where these Mad Max tanks, as Azov soldiers referred to them, are built. We headed to the suburbs of Kyiv, where the Azov Engineering Group keeps its headquarters in an old tractor factory. On top of the front building sits a rusty model tractor and a mechanical wheel embellished with the Soviet hammer and sickle. A huge Azov flag is pinned underneath.
WNU Editor: This is revealing .... Azov and some of the other volunteer battalions do have government-issued tanks, but Zvarych emphasises the government can take them back any time. Not so with their tanks, which belong to the battalion from tracks to turret. Regular readers of this blog know that I am not sympathetic of these "volunteer" militias, and having them operate independently from central control will cause more problems in the long run.
4 comments:
Interesting article, especially the last paragraphs. An excellent snippet:
“The Ukrainian government couldn’t build this tank. Why? Because they steal the money much faster than they can spend it,” quips Zvarych.
Their facilities not too bad, they have an operable overhead crane in the 20 ton range (I think), the floor in their main work area is clean, but I don't see many if any parts, tool boxes, etc. Their air is a portable compressor along with their welding equipment. It looks like they just moved in. From what little I can see their workmanship is pretty fair. I'll say this, they are trying to do something with all the derelict stuff laying around from the old communist days.
You are not symphatetic to the Ukraine, Period, with a capital P.
These banderistas are the ones that have destroyed ukraine and its future for many years
I think there's some distinction between a) Ukraine the nation-state, b) Ukrainian people, c) the Poroshenko government and d) the nationalist groups. Disliking the latter two does not mean being opposed to the former two, though sadly we all too often see people who do in fact conflate all four.
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