Russia’s Shortage of Tactical Trucks in Ukraine Inspires Road Warrior-Esque Improvised Armor

Images of Russian trucks with “home-made” armor have been circulating on social media in recent days, suggesting Russia is still struggling with the problem of too few and too vulnerable trucks to support its forces in Ukraine.

The above shot is one of several of various KAMAZ civilian truck models (K1, K2/K3) and un-armored military variants adapted in what reminds many of the outlandishly modified trucks in the 1981 movie “The Road Warrior” and subsequent Mel Gibson “Mad Max” sequels. The fact that Russian forces and Russian-paid mercenaries are cloaking transports and equipment haulers in what looks like hinged plate steel indicates their vulnerability — not just to drones or Ukrainian artillery but to small arms fire as well.

A Telegram page run by a user identified as @Ugolock_Sith has crowdsourced a number of the images. The Telegram handle roughly means “Sith’s corner” in Russian and the caption of the posting above (which was recirculated on Twitter) translates as, “Crazy Ivan, furious roads of Donbass.”

That may allude to significant Ukrainian sniper activity along roads in the Donbas region and elsewhere in the country. One of Putin’s most notorious mercenaries, Vladimir Andronov, was reportedly killed by a Ukrainian sniper near Kharkiv on June 5.

Andronov, popularly known in Russia as “The Executioner,” was accused of shooting Ukrainian prisoners of war during fighting in the Donbas in 2014, where he gained notoriety for his role in “liberating” the town of Logvinovo, where prisoners were found shot dead. He was reported to be a mercenary of the Wagner Group, a Russian private military company.

The fate of Andronov, other Russian military officers and the rank-and-file is likely more than sufficient motivation for the makeshift armor seen on the trucks in the Telegram post. Last week, Sweden announced it will provide Ukraine with AG 90 anti-materiel sniper rifles and ammunition, and an additional 5,000 Swedish AT4 recoilless anti-tank weapons.

The one to two-inch thick steel plate on the trucks wouldn’t be tremendously effective against anti-tank weapons or artillery but it would have a fighting chance of stopping smaller caliber rounds like the 12.7mm ammunition fired by the AG90 which is an export version of the American Barrett M82, which the U.S. has supplied to Ukraine. For drivers of Russian semi-tractors, 6X6 trucks or tankers, it may at least provide some comfort and complicate shots for small arms-wielding Ukrainians.

However, the improvised armor also imposes penalties like increased weight, reduced agility and fuel mileage as well visibility. To the degree that these slow or shorten the range of Russian trucks, forcing them to weld on steel plates looks like a minor tactical success for the Ukrainians.

It also does not smack of the logistics of a well-organized, professional army. Instead, it points to the strain on Russian forces and a sight that newly arrived Russian troops in eastern Ukraine would logically look on with foreboding.

But as Russia amasses a significant artillery advantage around the strategically important cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in eastern Ukraine, the Road Warrior mods may not look so theatrical to hard-pressed Ukrainian units. The very presence of such lashed-together vehicles underpins renewed calls by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy for heavy weapons, ammunition and equipment from Europe and the U.S.