Russia Turns To Nazi-Era Weapons As Ammunition Shortage Deepens

Russia is reportedly digging into museum stockpiles for Nazi-era weapons as its war effort in Ukraine burns through ammunition. According to a Wednesday night report by the New York Post, Ukrainian forces say Moscow has begun using explosives dating back to the 1930s in a bid to keep its military supplied.

Ukraine’s “Tur” reconnaissance unit said it recently found detonators bearing a swastika and the Reichsadler eagle in a Russian ammo depot, complete with a 1934 stamp. “Nazi weapons are still being used to kill people,” the unit wrote on Telegram. “The Hitler and Stalin regimes are gone, but the Putin regime has replaced them; the names differ, but the essence remains the same.”

The post also accused the Kremlin of hypocrisy, saying that while Russian leaders claim to fight fascism, “they themselves are a fascist state.” The group linked the find to Moscow’s own history, noting that in the late 1930s Stalin’s Soviet Union signed deals with Nazi Germany.

“On Sept. 17, 1939, the Soviet Union treacherously attacked Poland, which had already been severely weakened by fighting with the Wehrmacht,” the unit recalled. “In August 1939 the USSR and Germany signed a commercial agreement … including detonators for shells marked with a swastika.” The group believes the recently uncovered parts may have been “preserved in Russian depots” since that era.

Maj. Oleh Shyriaiev, head of Ukraine’s 225th Separate Assault Regiment, said Moscow often leans on outdated weapons. “We have seen many times that Russia has been using equipment from the times of the Second World War,” he told the Post, explaining that years of fighting have drained Russian stockpiles.

Shyriaiev added that he has personally seen troops using Mosin–Nagant rifles, weapons designed in the late 19th century and once displayed in Russian museums. “The Mosin rifle … is two generations prior to AKs, which in itself, is also a fairly not particularly modern piece,” he said.

U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg also highlighted Moscow’s reliance on relics during a Kyiv forum. “[Russia is] pulling tanks out of mothballs, out of museums, to put on the battle line,” he said, arguing that Ukrainian resistance has forced the Kremlin into desperate measures.

Shyriaiev noted Russia has even fitted WWII ship guns onto trailers and dusted off early infantry vehicles, while importing shells from North Korea to make up for dwindling supplies. “We also know for a fact, confirm through intelligence, that North Korea has been supplying ammunition to Russia for that reason, the lack of ammunition,” he said.