Ukraine garage turns battered vehicles into battlefield assets

KYIV – An auto garage in Kyiv is giving battered vehicles a second life as battle-ready transport for Ukraine’s military, trying to plug a supply gap as the war with Russia grinds on.

The shop formerly specialised in collision repairs, but that changed after Russia invaded in February and volunteers reached out about preparing vehicles to send to the front.

Now its mechanics spend long days working on cars, vans, trucks and buses requested by the military for tasks including transporting weaponry and surveillance drones.

“We are not a wealthy country, and the state cannot provide all our soldiers with armoured four-wheel-drive vehicles, so pickups are a compromise,” Mr Anton Senenko, one of the volunteers coordinating the effort, said.

The repair work can make the difference between life and death for soldiers operating in eastern Ukraine, where fighting is currently concentrated, he said.

“Very often, there are breakdowns with cars in peacetime. But in wartime, such a breakdown can lead to a tragedy,” he said.

“The car won’t start, and that’s it – the soldiers can no longer escape from the enemy tank.”

The vehicles are donated or purchased by fundraising Ukrainian volunteers, who often import them from neighbouring countries, including Poland, Latvia and Estonia.

On a recent afternoon, the garage’s jumpsuit-clad mechanics were hard at work underneath two elevated vehicles, a Nissan pickup and a Toyota van, which needed engine work.

“We don’t just change lubricants and filters, we fully prepare the entire machine for the harsh conditions in which it will work on the front line,” Mr Senenko said.

That often means replacing suspensions and braking systems and can also involve combat-specific modifications like adding a turret or a mount for a Starlink Internet dish.

As the fighting evolves, the military’s requests have changed.

While two-wheel drives were once useful in some hotspots, the rough eastern terrain where fighting is now concentrated requires four-wheel drives, preferably with off-road tires.