A new video shows that Ukraine is utilizing ammunition made in Iran. The account Ukraine Weapons Tracker features images of artillery shells tagged “Iranian OF-462 122mm HE projectile(s)” that were gathered from Ukrainian media.
The account claims that its mission is to debunk and track the usage of captured weapons in Ukraine.
Over the past year, Ukraine’s armed forces have gotten a ton of free weapons. The free world has delved deeply into its own arsenals to support the Ukrainian military’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, providing everything from US and British missiles to the most recent shipments of new tanks.
The OF-462 is a high explosive shell made by the Soviet Union that is employed in the 2S1 self-propelled gun/howitzer and the D-30 towed gun/howitzer, both of which are heavily utilized by both sides of the war.
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian army continues to receive Iranian-made 🇮🇷 ammunition – and for the first time it is made in 2023.
Here we can see an Iranian OF-462 122mm HE projectile for D-30/2S1 howitzers of the first lot of 2023. pic.twitter.com/2U7BkLQJqb— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 2, 2023
The shells in the image, however, were obviously not produced in either Russia or Ukraine. The OF-462 designation is stenciled on Russian and Ukrainian shells, along with other markings, but these rounds are labeled “122mm D30, HE-TNT, Lot: 1/2023.”
Although crude wooden containers with stenciled markings are identical to those used by others, the Twitter account claims that the shipping crates seen with these shells are identical to those used by Iran.
It’s interesting to note that the labels on the containers are written in English rather than Farsi, the Iranian language.
By purchasing weapons from Iran, Ukraine might be breaking sanctions, but there are a lot of other things that could be happening.
Weapon shipments from Iran bound for the Houthi rebels in Yemen are frequently intercepted and seized by US and British warships; some of the seized weapons have been diverted to Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and a Western donor (the US and UK have both purchased weapons on the international market and then delivered them to Ukraine) may have purchased the ammo from Iran after Iran had first sold it to someone else.
Finally, given that Russia has been purchasing a lot of weapons from Iran, they might have been purchased by Russia and taken by Ukrainian soldiers.
