Russian military forces have begun regularly using civilian Lada cars for combat “nearly suicidal attacks” in Ukraine, Forbes reports, marking a significant shift in their operational capabilities after losing over 15,000 armored vehicles, Forbes reports.
The Russian military is now using Lada Zhigulis in assaults – a Soviet-era mass-produced family of cars, based on a not overly successful attempt to copy the Fiat 124 from the 1960s-70s. These compact vehicles measure about 4 meters in length and weigh just over one ton.
What initially appeared as isolated incidents of desperate units using civilian vehicles last fall has evolved into a standard practice, according to Forbes.
“I guess this Lada storming is the norm now?” open-source analyst Moklasen noted while examining Ukrainian drone footage showing Russian Zhigulis being destroyed during attacks on Ukrainian positions.
Another open-source analyst, Andrew Perpetua, observed the trend, stating
“Assault time. Everyone into the Lada.”
Armor production vs. losses
Russia’s current annual production capacity stands at approximately 200 BMP-3 fighting vehicles, 90 T-90M tanks, and several hundred other armored vehicles including BTR-82 wheeled fighting vehicles, Forbes reports. However, the country is losing armored vehicles at a rate of 6,000 per year.
The gap between losses and production was previously filled by withdrawing Cold War-era vehicles from storage. However, these reserves are now running low.
Open-source analyst Jompy provided detailed analysis of the BTR situation in December:
“It looks like Russia still has overall 2,358 stored BTR-60/70/80s out of the 3,673 it had in storage before the war.”
Satellite imagery analysis of key storage locations revealed concerning conditions:
- 1063rd Logistics Center in Zaigraevo: Vehicles unmoved since 2020
- Kaliningrad vehicle parks: No movement since 2018
- Smolino storage facility: Vehicles static since 2010
“The normalization of Lada assaults is a clear sign they’ve passed that tipping point. Every day the war Russia’s wider war on Ukraine grinds on, the Russians will have fewer armored vehicles – and will rely more on compact cars to carry troops into battle,” Forbes wrote.
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