Russia 'deploys 1,500 rusting mothballed tanks from Siberian dump'

Putin’s junkyard war machines: Russia ‘deploys 1,500 rusting mothballed tanks from Siberian dump’ after suffering huge losses in Ukraine

• Among the old tanks are T-62s, produced up to 1975, and T-55 and T-54 models
• Decision to take tanks out of storage comes amid Russia’s significant losses to its military hardware, with low estimates suggesting Putin has lost over 2,200 tanks

Vladimir Putin has been forced to deploy almost half his mothballed old tanks and armoured vehicles from a major Siberian open-air depot after suffering huge losses in Ukraine.

Some 1,570 rusting war machines have been moved from their Siberian dump and restored to service for the Russian president’s war against Ukraine, say reports.

More than 40 per cent of the 3,840 tanks and military vehicles shown on satellite pictures from Google Earth at Vagzhanovo military equipment depot before the war have now been taken out of storage, it is claimed.

The site in the Buryatia republic is the largest in Russia covering five square miles.

Footage shows repurposed antiquated tanks from storage sites like Vagzhanovo – of which there are several across Russia – being moved to the war zone by military train.

Vladimir Putin has been forced to deploy almost half his mothballed old tanks and armoured vehicles from a major open-air depot (pictured)

Some 1,570 rusting war machines have been moved from their Siberian dump and restored to service for the Russian president’s war against Ukraine, say reports

Video footage (pictured) has shown repurposed T-54 and T-55 tanks being transported across Russia as Moscow’s forces seek reinforcements after suffering massive hardware losses

Use of the Soviet-era machinery is a sign of Putin’s desperation but also his miscalculation that his existing resources would meet his war needs.

READ MORE: At least eight killed and dozens wounded in Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk as Russian missile strikes target popular hotel and apartment blocks 

Data on the key military storage base was taken by the Russian edition of The Moscow Times from blogs of photographers, travellers, and media publications.

After eight months of the war in November 2022, about 2,600 armoured vehicles remained at the base, and by May 2023 this had slumped to 2,270.

Most equipment was stored outside at the base. Many have missing turrets and would need substantial repair work to be in workable condition.

Among the old tanks are T-62s, produced up to 1975.

Russia is known to be renovating creaking Soviet-era tanks in large numbers due to Putin’s war losses.

He has ordered construction of two tank repair plants.

One round-the-clock plant in Chita, Siberia is working on modernising the obsolete T-62s.

On a visit to the plant six time zones east of Moscow, Putin propagandist and war fanatic Lt-Gen Andrey Gurulev, 55, said: ‘Tanks, more than 50 years old, are being transformed into modern, normal machines capable of carrying out tasks and meeting the current frontline challenges.’

He boasted: ‘These T-62 tanks are completely modernised.’

Some tanks are even older, and there are claims museums have been raided.

The open-air military storage site is seen in this image, with dozens of Soviet-era tanks

More than 40 per cent of the 3,840 tanks and military vehicles shown on satellite pictures from Google Earth at Vagzhanovo military equipment depot before the war have now been taken out of storage, reports have suggested

T-54/T-55 vs T-62: Reports from Russia suggest Vladimir Putin is bringing Soviet-era models of tanks out of retirement and storage to bolster his heavy armour numbers in Ukraine

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s old T-54s along with Cold War mainstay, the T-55, have been deployed.

The geriatric T-54 was originally produced by Stalin after the Second World War in 1946, but Putin seems to be sending to war an updated version from the early 1950s – some 70 years old, the same age as the modern-day dictator.

They are a long way from the hypersonic missiles he boasts about.

The main tanks used by both Russian and Ukrainian units in the on-going war are those from the T-72 family, which were also engineers in the Soviet era.

However, compared to those being hauled out of storage, they boast more modern features and have been spotted with various upgrades.

That being said, in recent months Ukraine has taken delivery of state-of-the-art western main battle tanks, such as Germany’s Leopard 2, Britain’s Challenger 2 and the American-made M1 Abrams – all of which are a significant upgrade on the T-72.

These present a significant challenge to Russia’s older models. 

Russia has also boasted of more modern battle tanks in the form of the T-80 and the T-14 Armata. 

While Russian state media claimed the latter had been used in the war in Ukraine, reports suggested they were quickly withdrawn, with the rollout of Russia’s flagship tank having been plagued by setbacks.

Meanwhile, Russia has suffered significant losses to its heavy armour, with the Oryx military blog – which counts losses on the battlefield based on visual confirmation, thus providing a minimum figure – reporting Russia has lost around 2,200 tanks.

Ukraine estimate puts this figure even higher.

Amid Russia’s significant losses of tanks and other military hardware, several reports have suggested Putin is pulling old tanks out of storage, with one video from March showing factory workers re purposing the tanks.

And there is evidence Russia is using its oldest models as driverless ‘kamikaze tanks’ able to operate on ‘autopilot’ loaded with explosives acting as self-propelled bombs.

Pictured: Russian engineers are seen working on T-62 tanks and other hardware as Vladimir Putin works to bolster the military vehicles his forces have at their disposal in Ukraine

A video showed an apparently reborn Soviet tank last month used in an attempt to inflict carnage on Ukrainian positions.

In this case it hit a landmine and exploded near Marinka in Donetsk region before reaching the enemy.

An eye-witness seeing a train in Voronezh carrying the ancient tanks likened them to extinct woolly mammoths.

‘T-55! They ran out of new tanks and are sending junk.’

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