Israel weighs sending captured Russian weapons to Ukraine
The Ukrainian ambassador in Israel, Yevhen Korniychuk, met with Sharren Haskel, who serves as Israel's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Her proposal involves supplying Ukraine with Russian weaponry seized by the IDF from the stockpiles of Hamas and Hezbollah. Here's what Ukrainians can expect.
Sharren Haskel submitted to the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) a bill regarding the transfer of Russian-made weaponry seized from the arsenals of Hamas and Hezbollah to Ukraine. If the vote is successful, Ukraine will receive a supply of weaponry that is hard to obtain for Western countries.
In addition, the interlocutors emphasized that this initiative will represent an important step in recognizing the common threats both countries face. Other issues included military cooperation between Iran and Russia, which poses a threat to the national security of both Ukraine and Israel. The ambassador also stressed that effectively countering this threat is in the mutual interest of both nations.
Hamas arsenal — an ideal source of ammunition for drones
In the case of the weapons from Hamas stockpiles, Ukraine will be able to rely on small arms, handheld anti-tank weapons, and artillery in the form of mortars. The discussion is focused solely on Russian weapons, so it is not known whether Iranian or locally homemade weapons by Hamas will also be included.
Ammunition for Russian rifles will likely be welcome, as the production of certain calibres is limited in Western countries. For instance, PG-7VL grenades for RPG-7 grenade launchers capable of penetrating about 20 inches of armor steel or a tandem "Yasin" (a copy of PG-7VR) with penetration up to 30 inches will be ideally suited for use on anti-tank FPV drones.
In turn, mortar shells will be the ideal payload for "Baba Jaga" type drones capable of carrying up to 44 pounds of cargo. Ukrainians are even capable of recycling unexploded ordnance, so Hamas's homemade weapons could prove helpful.
Hezbollah arsenal — rocket ammunition for rare post-Soviet systems and good anti-tank weapons
The situation looks better with the Hezbollah arsenal, which also included heavy weapons such as rockets for the BM-21 Grad and BM-27 Uragan multiple launch rocket systems. Especially for the latter, Ukraine no longer has rockets, and allied Western nations have no source to purchase them.
The BM-27 Uragan uses unguided rockets with an 8.7-inch caliber and a range of about 22 miles, although rockets with a range of up to 37 miles have also been developed. Each rocket contains a 198-pound warhead in a high-explosive fragmentation or cluster version with bomblets, anti-personnel, or anti-tank mines.
Moreover, Ukrainians can count on rockets for BM-21 Grad systems with a range of about 12 miles and a fairly extensive assortment of anti-tank guided missiles. Hezbollah had large stocks of launchers and missiles for systems such as the 9M14 Malyutka, 9K111 Fagot, 9M113 Konkurs, and the new Russian 9M133 Kornet.
The latter, with a range of 3.1 miles, are capable of penetrating even 39 inches of armor steel behind a single-layer reactive armor. For this reason, they pose a lethal threat to most tanks used in Ukraine. Currently, Ukrainians have significant shortages in modern anti-tank weaponry, and a delivery of perhaps several hundred Kornets would be a great help.
