Ukrainian soldiers are turning to pickup trucks fitted with rocket launchers made in the U.S. to fight back against invading Russian forces. The “Banderamobiles” take their name from Stepan Bandera, the fiercely anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalist leader who fought for Ukrainian independence during the 1930s and ’40s. A post on the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s Facebook page called the tricked-out Nissan trucks “an occupier’s nightmare.” Some of the pickups feature MK19 grenade launchers—first developed for use during the Vietnam War—that can fire a 40mm round up to an effective range of one mile. The weapon is still in use with U.S. Special Operations forces and has been mounted onto vehicles in previous conflicts, including by the British Special Air Service in the first Gulf War in 1991. Russian troops have also reportedly used mounted machine guns on pickup trucks since invading Ukraine in February.
