- Russia is forcing Ukrainians to fix outdated and broken military equipment, Ukraine claims.
- Russia lacks mechanics who have the skills necessary to fix the equipment up, officials said.
Russian forces are pressuring Ukrainian mechanics to fix their broken military equipment amid a lack of Russian mechanics who are able to do the job, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's National Resistance Center said in a statement that Russian forces are bringing aged military equipment back into service, but "lack mechanics who can repair damaged or outdated vehicles."
"Therefore, the enemy is forcibly engaging specialists," it said.
The allegation, which Insider was unable to independently corroborate, comes as both militaries in the conflict face a squeeze on equipment and ammunition.
President Vladimir Putin admitted Tuesday that his forces don't have enough "high-precision ammunition, communications equipment, aircraft, drones, and so on."
He also raised the need for more modern equipment following reports that Russia's front line is dependent on dated, Soviet-era tanks.
Ukraine has received an influx of modern weaponry from Western allies, including, most recently, US-made Bradley and Stryker infantry fighting vehicles, with the promise of F-16 fighter jets.
But open-source observers have said that 16 of the 109 Bradleys sent to Ukraine have already been lost or damaged in the fighting.
Ukraine's military has also set up repair shops in which captured Russian equipment, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, and fuel trucks, are put back into service — this time in defense of Ukraine.
In its statement, the National Resistence Center urged Ukrainians living under Russian occupation not to comply with any repair orders from Russian forces.
It also directed Ukrainians on how to disable and sabotage Russian tanks and vehicles in case they "are forced to work on military equipment under duress or threat to life and health."