Footage of antiquated Soviet tanks reportedly being transported across Russia has raised questions about high equipment losses faced by Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine.
The open-source Conflict Intelligence Team reported that Russian battlefield losses are so high that Moscow is resorting to using seven decade-old armored vehicles to make up the shortfall.
The Tbilisi-based research group shared undated video it said showed T-54 and T-55 tanks being taken westwards by train from the town of Arsenyev in Russia’s far eastern Primorsky Krai region.
Production of the T-54 began in 1946 when former Kremlin leader Josef Stalin was still in power and by the end of the 1950s it had become the main battle tank for armored units of the Soviet army.
Social media users speculated about the significance of the footage and whether the tanks would be used on the front line.
Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted how the dispatch of the tanks showed “the Kremlin determination to continue the war more or less for ever” as well as it showing how Russian stocks of modern arms “have been seriously depleted.”
“Even T-62 is a Super modern tank compared to this… What next? T-34? Horses,” wrote Twitter user Denys Davydov next to the footage of the tanks being transported. The T-34 is a World War II-era Soviet tank.
Another Twitter user mocked the difference between the upcoming delivery of modern Western arms with the old Soviet stock.
“We’re gonna get Leopard 1 and AMX-10RC engaging T-55 and T-62 What year is this?” wrote Salty French Boi.
However, one user called “Russia Victory is Inevitable” tweeted that Moscow has a huge stockpile of 100 mm shells, “so why not make a good use of it rather then letting it gather dust?”
The user wrote that the tanks will not be used in combat action against other tanks, but as artillery support for combat units, to guard checkpoints and as decoys to draw enemy strikes.
“But still Ukrainians going wild with the “RuSsiA hAs nO mOrE TaNkS,” the user added.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, around 1,871 Russian tanks have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured according to the open-source organization Oryx.
The Institute for the Study War said Wednesday that the Russian military may be resorting to reserves of Soviet-era tanks to solve its significant armored vehicle shortages.
“The Russian military may also be deciding to field the tanks because parts to repair the T-54/55 tanks are abundantly available and substantially cheaper,” the think tank said, although T-54/55 tanks do not have the capabilities of more modern armored equipment.
“The Russian military will likely experience greater numbers of casualties by fielding these older tank systems in Ukraine,” the think tank added.
Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.
Footage of antiquated Soviet tanks reportedly being transported across Russia has raised questions about high equipment losses faced by Moscow’s forces fighting in Ukraine.
