Ukrainian commander Petro Horbatenko says that the Russian army has restored the disadvantage it had compared to the Ukrainian army in the first year of the war

Horbatenko, the commander of the 1st Airborne Assault Battalion of the 3rd Separate Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, made the comments at an event for the Kyiv military after being asked what equipment “the average Russian occupier has and how much weaker” it is than Ukrainian equipment.

“The Russian army is not weaker than the Ukrainian one, it is even better. It is technologically better equipped, has more equipment, better weapons, better equipment than the Ukrainian one,” he answered.

“Where did you get that they are weaker? The Russians not only have better equipment, but also state programs for equipping and supplying the army,” emphasized the Ukrainian commander, better known to the Ukrainian public under the pseudonym “Rollo”.

Horbatenko also added that the Russian enemy should not be underestimated.

His comments were picked up by both Ukrainian and Russian media, including TASS, Russia’s best-known state news agency.

In the first year of the war, the Russian army had major problems with equipment

Shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered a “partial mobilization” in September 2022, Russian conscripts who were forcibly conscripted into the army posted numerous videos on social media complaining about the quality of the equipment and weapons they received.

The situation caused a national scandal in Russia and even forced Putin in December of the same year to admit that there were problems with the equipment of the mobilized “reservists”.

But videos posted on social media at the time showed that problems with Russian military equipment also affected soldiers on the front lines, not just those undergoing training. In fact, including Russian soldiers on the front lines, they have shared footage showing the inadequate equipment they are being sent into battle with.

The invasion force sent by Putin into Ukraine suffered huge losses in personnel and equipment in the first months of the war, and Russian military reserves were insufficient to compensate them. Documents recently declassified by US intelligence agencies indicate that Russian forces have lost nearly 90% of their troops mobilized for the invasion.

Russian industry was also mobilized only a few months later, when the military command in Moscow expected the war to last only a few days and the political leadership initially tried to present the conflict as a minor operation.

But later, the Russian defense industry managed to catch up with Ukraine, which received support from the West, at least in two other areas: in the production of drones and electronic warfare equipment.

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