Wagner Finds Only Antique Weapons In Ukraine's Underground Weapons Cache 

Edit: 3:20 the stocks are for SKS not Mosins, I missed the cutout above the trigger guard and sling loop. Thanks for watching, here's the accompanying article - armourersbench.com/2023/05/21/what-weapons-did-wagner-capture-in-the-soledar-mines/

No one wanted crates of brand new Thompsons? He didn't contact me !

Those crates of Thompson with original paperwork is unreal part of history

A sheriff's department here in America still had a Thompson submachinegun in their inventory which they had bought in the 1930s. They recently sold it at auction for $90,000. Those crates of Tommy guns are literal treasure chests.

4:55 it never occurred to me that large stockpiles of Thompson submachine guns still existed anywhere

Those Thompsons would be worth their weight in gold here in the US to collectors. Maxim guns?? Over 100 years old and in pristine shape?? After the war the whole mine should be turned into a museum. Tourists from all over would pay to see all that perfectly preserved history.

I worked with that facility back in the 90's. They had 5,000 new Colt 1911A1's that Waffen Frankonia bought. They have thousands of P38's, Lugers, Mausers, as well as other equipment from WWII, including Indian, Harley Davidson and German WWII motorcycles. They also have tons of other WWII vehicles and according to the documentation I received, several ME-262 jets.

That's not a salt mine, that's a Gold Mine!

These cold war era dooms day bunkers are absolutely mind blowing, the amount of equipment held inside them is insane

As a weapons enthusiast, this video was making my heart melt. Brand new Thompsons and Maxims in their original factory crates!!! What a treasure they have over there, and they don't have any appreciation of it! What a waste!!!

Owning a Thompson here in the US is not only nearly impossible, but it would also cost a fortune. And these guys have CRATES of brand-new shipments sitting there for 80 years!

Up until 2014 ukraine was the worlds premier surplus firearm dealer. My SKS, Mosin, tokarev pistol and SVT40 rifle all came from ukraine. paid under $300 Canadian for each one.

Absolutely incredible. Maxims in brand new condition. Thompson's by the crate. Millions of dollars worth of black market, collector grade, weapons.

Damn that’s a mouth watering supply of usable hardware. As a gunsmith I’d be in literal heaven!! 😂

Those brand new Thompsons are such a sight for a collectors eyes . They can fetch a hefty price, up to 40-80 grand. How can anyone not be interested in those Thompsons. It's insane.

The Thompsons were included with the tanks that we sent to the Soviets in WWII but they didn’t have any ammo for them so they just put them in storage.

That's pretty wild, just thousands and thousands of 'Forgotten Weapons'

These old Soviet sites are all over Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe. Built to withstand nuke strikes, very impressive structures.

As a US based weapons collector I can only dream of a whole crate of early WW2 vintage M1928 Thompsons NIB still wrapped in oil paper. Even the crate of M1 Thompsons is probably worth a million dollars (also the crate of (pretty) Maxim guns. I am amazed no one thought to get them out of the mines before Ukraine pulled back and sell them to Western collectors. Just recently I saw someone on a different site whining bout not finding good condition, original, Mosin stocks. There they are. LoL

Oh my god. Collectors are sending dark web messages to Prigozhin as we speak.

The Thompsons must be worth their weight in gold!

Unironically more valuable than the modern small arms they could've found.

About 15 years ago WW2 lend lease weapons arrived from Ukraine in the Eu. You could buy an unissued Thompson M1 for 500€ or a 1928 for 650€. PPSH 41 and 43 were around 250€, a Maxim on wheel carriage was 1000€.

There are probably lots of collectors in the USA who would give tons of money for some of the older guns.

Those Thompsons are actually worth a lot. Incredible weapon. Expensive to make. Expensive now.

Damn, these might be the last pristine vintage guns

I think a lot of people need to keep in mind - this is ONE such depot. There's TONS of them all over not only Ukraine but Eastern Europe.

Those Maxims are still viable weapons for fixed locations. Dependant on ammunition supplies or the ability to convert. Museums would take them in a heartbeat.

Anyone have Prigozhin’s number? Those belong in collectors’ hands and museums, not rotting away in a Ukrainian mine.

Those weapons like the Thompsons are priceless for collectors. It is a goldmine for collectors.

Loved growing up in a rural town where there was absolutely 10,000 ar patterned rifles and ammunition locked up underneath a national guard depot in the middle of town. Who even knows what else was in there. The underground part is underneath a elementary school and above ground building is fifty yards from the cafeteria lol.

the massive gallery of crates is insane to see i wonder how much more interesting weapons were carried away when they left

i wish i could have all of that for myself

A thompson in such good condition, literally never fired, could easily be worth $150,000

I saw this video on telegram where Russian war journalist interviews Wagner fighter in this mine. Now i don't speak Russian, but a related language. And i think i understood that the number of Thompsons held in that mine is around 23 000 guns. The number of PPSh is around 300 000 guns. Ukrainians carried out most of modern weapons and almost all of the ammunition.

That Thompson's got my attention!😮

The arms caches we found in vietnam always had THOMPSON MACHINE GUNS in 45 apc and were found on some VC soldiers. Mostly they used AK-47, Molson nagant, SKS, and B-40 rocket. 4th div. recon 1969.

The WW2 mint condition guns are a incredible find!!!

I’m sure plenty of collectors around the world would be interested, I hope these historical weapons are not destroyed. Great video. All the best from down under. Lewis Sydney Australia

So freakin cool. The mine has no humidity. No rust.

if these were imported into the USA right now the barrels and receivers would be torch cut in several places. our government sucks

So this is as close to heaven as one can find. An "infinite" number of guns to fix, assemble, and shoot with a neverending mountain of ammo. That is just amazing.

Wow tens of thousands of brand new WW2 guns? This stuff must be worth multi if not hundreds of millions... What an incredible treasure!

May I come with a truck there? I can help to clean the facility for free.

Here in the US a class 3 mint Tommy gun like those are worth roughly 35k-45k and they have dozens, if not hundreds of them in just that location

Keep Ian far away; once inside, he might never return.

For some more info on this mine in Paraskoviivka , this is the Kuzminovsky Mine/Volodarsky Mine No. 1/Artyomsol Mine No. 8. It was opened in 1911 as the Kuzminovsky Mine. After the Russian Revolution it was renamed Volodarsky Mine No. 1 after the Marxist revolutionary and Soviet politician V. Volodarsky. On March 1st, 2019 Artyomsol renamed the mine the Artyomsol Mine No. 8. After the mine fell into Russian hands mid-late February, I was curious how long it would be before we got pictures and videos from inside the mine.

Shows the scale of lend lease that they still have whole crates of Thompson's. Not surprised that they were kept in storage - doesn't look like they had a space problem in there

Mr Prigozhin, please don't let the antiques rot. Historical pieces like maxims and thompsons could be sold for a fair price. For this invaluable piece of business advice, an AK-74 with 10 spare magazines and 3000 rounds would be very appreciated. Yours sincerely, Orz Orzelski. Well, at least I tried!

Quick correction: those are SKS, not Mosin stocks, at 3:20.

Imagine going into a deep cave, and in one corner you find piles of ancient plundered Aztec gold... and in the other corner you see crates of NIB WW2-era Thompsons. Which one would you take? 😁

I wonder if there is something about salt mines that caused this location to be chosen as a long-term storage depot. Stable temps due to being deep underground, and it's probably really really dry down there.

I just wish we could get our stuff back and buy it at cost.

I'll take a thompson

Would love to see some videos documenting the use of the older WW2 guns. I've seen pictures of people running around with Thompson's PPSH's, and I saw a video only yesterday of something running around with a MP-40, but apparently that one was a reproduction from some company in Ukraine

Those pristine maxims, stuck in a cave for decades 😢

Whoa a Thompson, I just posted a full auto one. Love these.

People forget, but the URSS had the largest army in human history. That's why there is so many storages like that in all ex-soviet states. And that's why Russia can still fight till this day with old weapons in some areas. Thair stock is HUGE and spread all over the place in bunkers.

Those piles of crates of never used Thompson submachine guns are worth a fortune.

Whoa! Those Maxims and Thompsons are high dollar items worldwide!-John in Texas

Ukraine had one of the largest Black Market in all of Europe before the war. Its insane what antiques they have there and what equipment you won't find anymore they sell for dirt cheap prices.

On the U.S. market people would pay real money for vintage WW1 and WW2 guns.

The Thompsons are worth exactly zero to us in the US. Not importable unless chopped to bits. We sent over 140,000 to the Soviets who didn't use them much, no ammo and not much need for them with PPSh 41 and PPs 43 on hand. Most went as tank and vehicle crew weapons, and were promptly put in storage and obviously left unused. They aren't going to get issued out to Russian or Ukrainian forces, not enough ammo or likely spare magazines either. Where they sit now, they are nothing more than high quality scrap metal.

Man.. really wish they'd put those on the C&R market. Beautiful classic guns

I would not be suprised, in light of Prigozhin's recent comments, to see these start to appear in Africa.

Rust, scrapmetal and WW2 weapons without material base to repair and probably even without required supply of specific ammunition. Even russian mobilized forces wouldn't use this shit.

Goodness, to have such a slice of that arsenal in my armory. Welp, a man can dream,and dreams are cheap.

Too bad we can't send some of these WWII to someone who would appreciate them

If Wagner sell all of those weapons to collectionneurs, they might actually be able to afford an air force.

One mans rubbish other mans treasure. For modern army all the Thomson's, PPSH, Maxims etc. are useless, or clearly excess amount of surplus AK/Mosin stocks... but for gunsmith working in that sort of area (Brandon Herrera comes to mind) this would be absolute goldmine. Even museums... I cannot imagine museums around the world would not be interested in absolutely brand new old stock Thomson's, PPSH, Maxims and similar weapons... surely not 10,000 of them, but couple of examples each... and there must be 100s of museums around the world.

I found this video very interesting Though sadly I know some Russian oligarchs world war 2 weaponry collection has just been completed Maybe after the war, there'll be a sudden influx of parts kits from Russia, or well Belarus or whatever country the US doesn't have sanctions on firearm adjacent imports(or however US law treats "parts kits") but a sudden influx of WW1/WW2/AK74 furniture to every market that purchases firearms or deactivated firearms and magazines from foreign countries

Give your money to Ukraine! Give more! Give it all!🇺🇦🙏❤️🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈

That's not a weapons Depot, it's an arms Museum.

Imagine a _Battlefield_ or _Call of Duty_ mission or map with an underground weapons cache filled with usable antique weapons and ammunition such as this one.

5:27 Are those Thompson M1928? I think so, Thompson M1 and M1A2 does not have finned barrels ..

Apparently those are the stocks that Victor Bout drew from throughout his career as an arms dealer?

The Syrian civil war both sides used WW2 weapons, not surprising there being used in this war.

This is very interesting! These guns are worth a lot of money. A Thompson M1A1 sells for: , and a Thompson M1928 has an Estimated Price of: $18,000 - $27,500. Crates full of it, and it and you see the collectors value of these guns. Its millions upon millions of dollars worth of guns. the problem is to get them out safe, and then sell them on a market. But how to get them there? I know collectors go a long way to get guns in that good a condition. Maybe they would even buy them on the black market. Maybe sell them through the darkweb, get acquainted with people there, and make dope money to fund the war. I know Assad from Syria is reported to be well established in the synthetic drugs trade. So maybe they know how to get rid of guns too for the right price. I saw a video once of MP44 rifles in Syria, a whole shipping container full of old guns, guns worth a lot of money. From the right area, there are companies from America that even get guns from Eritrea. Italian Carcanos. If they would somehow find guns like these, of course they will pay. It would be a big shame to see good guns like these rot in mines... If i was Prigozhin, i would rechamber the MG08 machinegun in 7.62x54 Mosin (if they would not be in that caliber already), and just throw the guns into the fight. If you place machinegun posts in the right spot, they can sure cause mayhem. Especially if you put a scope/thermal on it. I just get wild when i see guns like that. Really excited about the find. At the very least i would just get some armorers, and have them fix and check guns, and have these send to the troops that go to the front. I bet the place is being looted right now by some officers. Have you seen the washing machines from the Kiev region and even HVAC systems being send home to Russia?? Man... Greetings, Jeff

Thanks for posting. Imo engineering economy willdictate what happens to such a (rare) facility especially in an all out war. For example, it is clear the facility contents were stripped of high graded war materiel. Engineering economy again.

For anyone interested 24 Thompsons have already been shipped to The DRC, some will end up in République du Cameroun as I understand General Jacob Kodji’s daughter has bought some as gifts. My got my eye on a couple.

If Prigozhin could sale those Thompsons, they'd bring him some good money. The thing is, Prigozhin is one of those "angry patriots" that keep denying that the USSR received any Lend Lease help.

Friend few years back had a few crates with the Thomson's all for deactivation all welded up i nearly cried ,they came from that mine they have been flogging them for years

I read once that the Thompsons came in crates like that and in the trucks and tanks we sent the Soviets. Problem apparently, was the availability of .45 acp which is why they were never utilizedm

Give me 30 minutes alone in that mine and I would die a happy man!

with all that hardware being assesed now i think i know why wagner is back in the game and doesnt complain about ammo shortages anymore

That crate of Thompsons is probably worth about a million USD

It’s a real crime those Thompsons can’t be returned to the USA and sold privately.

You have a calm systematic way of presenting. Only a pleasure to listen to your presentation.

Those salt mines are now gold mines thanks to those Thompsons and Maxims

Those Thompsons would make cool trophies, maybe Prigozhin could reward them like medals to Wagner veterans.

This is a fascinating story and piece of history. I hope some of those weapons will be preserved. Maybe the sale of them to our gun loving friends in the US could cover some reconstruction :)

So basically the Ukrainians took all the modern arms-AKs, etc., and except for a few odds and ends there for repair, what was left was 80+ year old stuff that, while historically cool, is roughly as useful as feet on fish. Tommy guns, PPsH 41 and PPs 43 are really cool but far from being cutting edge or even useful. There's likely little .45ACP ammo for the Thompsons, and might not be any magazines for them. I'm sure there are mags for the Soviet subguns, and ammo too, but these guns are completely obsolete. Just so much scrap. The SKS stocks will come in handy next winter as firewood.

Makes sense why he wanted those mines so badly. Lots of cash in those crates.

If Wagner Group needs more funding they could sell these pristine WW2 weapons to collectors in America if it could be sent cause many people including Museums would love to have these guns

It's good to know that even back then the government was giving away stuff that they wouldn't let civilians have.

No one wants them! Blimey, I'll buy them! Another great video Matt.

I guess that explains why so many men have died in the battles of Soledar and Bachmut. The fact that it wasn't sealed speaks volumes. I hope the documents found with the Thompsons are released. Probably arrived in Russia along with the P-39 Airocobras in 1943. Maybe not. Maybe later, or maybe captured and recaptured.

I'D TAKE A NEW THOMPSON MACHINE GUN ANY DAY

3:19 these are actually SKS stocks

Man thats a nice find 4:49 they look to be in great shape.