Ukrainian medieval armorer contributes to war effort

Ukraine’s blacksmiths are using their skills to contribute to its country’s defense against invading Russian forces, including at least one medieval armor smith, according to VICE News.

The Art of STEEL, a Ukrainian workshop that produces medieval arms and armor, posted a photo of steel spikes it had made to defend checkpoints to its Facebook page.

“A little help in improving the defense of our city,” reads the post from Mar. 1. “All forges in the city make barrier elements.”

The Art of STEEL is based in Rivne, about two hours from Ukraine’s border with northern neighbor and Russian ally Belarus. The forge is popular amongst cosplayers and re-enactors for the high-quality arms and suits of armor they produce, which it often posts to Facebook.  

One of its blacksmith told The Telegraph that forges across Ukraine were contributing in some way.

“Such spikes are made in all cities of Ukraine, we are not the only ones,” said the source, who asked not to be named.

“Many [forges] create anti-tank barriers, some make stoves to heat the military,” he added. “All the masters who know how to work with metal are trying to help the army in some way.

When Russia’s invasion began on Feb. 24, it wrote to followers that “Ukraine is under the fire” and apologized that it would have trouble fulfilling orders for “some time.”

VICE reports that Ukraine’s wealth of minerals had properties that were ideal for early blacksmiths.

“The country is lucky enough to have Precambrian metamorphosed sedimentary rocks rich in iron ore that are easy to refine,” said Jordan Newman, a Texas geologist and amateur blacksmith. “It's mostly hematite in quartz so when you smelt it you end up with slag that is easy to remove and won't contaminate your bloom. The silica also creates a glassy flux which further protects the refined iron from oxygen in the atmosphere. If you're a blacksmith in the early iron age when metallurgy was trial and error this would have been a blessing.”

Newman said that this is what made Ukraine a powerhouse of iron production, but added that this was a “double-edged sword” because “when you have resources someone else is going to want them.”

The Art of STEEL’s vehicle spikes are a smaller version of the anti-tank barriers being churned out by steelworkers in Kyiv.

"We build things. We do not know how to fight, but we knew we could be useful," Zakhar, a Kyiv construction foreman turned resistance coordinator, told Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine for a “special military action” on Feb. 24. Reports say Russian troops have made much less progress than expected due to fierce Ukrainian resistance that rallied behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to action.