Russia is preparing tanks built in the 1940s for use in Ukraine as equipment shortages force Putin to take desperate measures to defend against imminent counter offensives, Western officials have suggested. Russian T54s and T-55s, which were mothballed in the 1980s due to their outdated capabilities, have been spotted being loaded onto trains and rolling off storage bases. Russian milbloggers believe they will be used to “continue the special operation” after undergoing modernisation.
It comes as Western officials warned that Russia is also believed to be stockpiling Iranian kamikaze drones to help fight off the anticipated Ukrainian counter offensives.
A Western official told the i that it appears the “equipment Russia is using is older generation”, suggesting the aggressors are going “backwards” in their war in Ukraine.
They said: “They started with T90s and T80s, then the T72 and, indeed, we saw the first T55 rolled out of refurbishment to be put into battle and it’s the same across artillery pieces as well.
“So, they’re going backwards in terms of their equipment and in terms of personnel.”
The T55 came into service just after the Second World War and was an update on the Soviet Union’s T50, which dates back to 1941.
While Ukraine has begun receiving the first tranches of Western main battle tanks, including British Challenger 2s and German-made Leopard 2s, regarded as two of the three best military vehicles in production, Russia’s T-90 and T-80s have been badly hit by Ukrainian forces.
The Kremlin has not commented on the tank losses, nor the recommissioning of T-55s, but Russian milbloggers have suggested the soldiers are already being trained in how to use the vehicles.
Yuri Netkachev, a retired lieutenant general who once commanded a tank battalion, told the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper that the T-54 and T-55 tanks were “in demand to continue the special operation, because they have a significant ammunition load”.
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Meanwhile, Western officials said they believe Russia was stockpiling Iranian kamikaze drones to mitigate against imminent counter offensives.
“There are certainly indications that the Russians are potentially stockpiling some of those one-way attack drones for use later,” said a Western official.
“Potentially they’re concerned about a Ukrainian counterattack and stockpiling them for that purpose.”
Iranian-made Shahed-131 and Shahed-136 drones have been used by Russian forces since last August to strike civilian regions within energy infrastructure, as well as to target Ukrainian artillery.
