Israel finds large troves of Russian arms in Hezbollah’s hands
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. TEL AVIV—As Israel advances its invasion of southern Lebanon, its troops are finding large troves of Russian weapons, confirming longstanding suspicions in Israel that Hezbollah is enhancing its fighting capacity with the help of sophisticated Russian arms. Some of the weapons, which include modern Kornet antitank missiles manufactured as recently as 2020, were sent to southern Lebanon in recent years from Russian stockpiles in neighboring Syria, according to Syrian security officials and an Arab official.
Russia has long provided arms to Syria’s military, as well as controlling its own warehouses in the country. Although Israeli military leaders knew Hezbollah possessed some Russian-made arms, their inability to access parts of southern Lebanon since fighting a war with Hezbollah in 2006 made it hard to know the full extent of the militant group’s capabilities. Russian weapons Hezbollah was known to possess tended to be less sophisticated, with some dating back to the Soviet era.
The weapons Israel is finding now are newer, more advanced, and present in larger numbers than expected by military analysts. The arms have significantly bolstered Hezbollah’s ability to fight back after Israeli airstrikes decimated its top leadership, they say. Antitank weapons such as the Kornet have been among the most effective weapons in Hezbollah’s arsenal, and have been used to kill numerous Israeli soldiers.
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