Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been an abject failure for the Kremlin, this much is undeniable. What was once believed to be a global superpower has been reduced to the butt of an international joke, as setback after setback continues to humiliate Vladimir Putin and his pals.
From the very beginning of the “special military operation” there were reports of Russian troops being poorly equipped, with rusty rifles and outdated munitions.
This week, over a year into the conflict, it appears as though Moscow is taking some of its oldest hardware off of mothballs, signaling their desperation.
Russia has taken tanks from the 1940s out of storage, according to new images from a monitoring group, as it continues to lose large numbers of tanks in Ukraine.
The Conflict Intelligence Team, a group that monitors Russia’s military, shared images of the antique tanks on a train.
It said that the images show T-54 tanks, which the Soviet Union started producing in 1947, moving west from the far east of Russia.
While other old tanks have been used by Russia in Ukraine, none have been as old as the T-54, the group said.
It said the tanks were photographed leaving the city of Arsenyev in Russia’s far eastern Primorsky Krai region.
The machines are archaic at best, but appear to be headed toward Ukraine anyway.
CIT said some of the photos may also be of its successor, the T-55.
The CIT said that using a T-54 is better than having no tanks, but noted a host of drawbacks from the primitive technology, like rudimentary sights, a lack of rangefinders, and poor gun stabilization.
It said the tanks were being brought “westwards.” That would be consistent with a plan to deploy them in Ukraine, though the CIT said had no no specific information about Russia’s plans for them.
Russia has already been recorded trying to take ground with badly obsolete armor. It included an elite Russian unit fighting with 60-year-old T-62 tanks after other tanks were destroyed.
The nearly 80 year old tanks could be seen on trains headed toward Ukraine.
Russia running out of obsolete T-62M, so what do they do? They send in the even more obsolete T-55. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/SrEG2wCQcJ
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) March 22, 2023
Russia has been facing an increased presence of western machinery and munitions in Ukraine, creating a grand disparity that appears unlikely to be remedied any time soon.
