The Western media write about it as a miracle, but how does it differ from the format of the Soviet army, when they gave one rifle for three? Moreover, the article is permeated with TIPSO narratives and propaganda, but the main point is that we have nothing to defend ourselves from, not to go on the offensive.
The Wall Street Journal "Ukrainian 'Mad Max' combs swamps and minefields for shells". On the bank of a stream in this ruined village, Max Polyukhovich was digging in the mud with his hands in search of the elusive Grail. Within minutes, he pulled out a smooth gray piece of metal several feet long—an unexploded Russian artillery shell.
Ukraine is experiencing such a shortage of ammunition that Polyukhovich, a 36-year-old soldier, has become an important source of ammunition for brigades on the eastern front. Half scavenger, half backyard bomb maker, Polyukhovich goes into the swamps and walks several miles through minefields in search of unused ammunition left behind by the Russian forces after their retreat. Part of what he finds can be immediately used by Ukrainian artillery. Max takes the rest to his makeshift lab, where he converts the explosives into munitions for strike drones.
Known by the nickname "Mad Max," he has transferred at least 14,000 shells to brigades in eastern Ukraine, as well as 4,000 munitions for drones, according to his estimates.
Veletensky, with an unruly dark beard and bright green eyes, Polyukhovich has been fighting in the east of Ukraine for eight years. He was injured last summer. The bulletproof vest saved Max from serious injuries, and during his recovery he witnessed a growing hunger for projectiles. Since then, the search for and manufacture of ammunition has become his permanent job.
He concentrates his efforts on the territories that Moscow occupied at the beginning of the conflict. According to Max, only in the marshes around Izyum in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, he found 2,500 usable shells that the Russians threw into the water before fleeing in September 2022.
"When you liberate the territory, you need to check the swamps," Polyukhovich said, noting that this was a common strategy of the Russians, who were trying to prevent the Ukrainians from using their ammunition.
