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as Ukraine prepares for its offensive against Russia Russia is unexpectedly dusting off and
deploying tank fleets from Cold War era to the front lines these fleets consist
of t-55 and t-62 tanks thank you which originally emerged in the 1940s and are
predominantly found in museums today it is surprising that Russia is resorting to such
outdated equipment as it appears they are scraping the bottom of the barrel
this therefore raises the question of why Russia is relying on Antiquated resources
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several factors contribute to the Russian evident preparation of cold war tanks for combat
in Ukraine with the primary and most apparent reason being the significant loss of their tanks
Based on data from multiple sources prior to the conflict in Ukraine in 2022 Russia had a
significant number of Tanks according to a report by The International Institute for
strategic studies when Russia initially entered Ukraine last year they possessed approximately 3
000 functional tanks some even estimated that Russia possessed approximately 12 420 tanks and 36
000 armored vehicles this included several thousand t-72 3000 t-80 and approximately 200 t90.
while not all of these tanks were immediately deployed to the front
lines a substantial portion were part of the initial Invasion Force
however as Ukraine received military support from Western countries which included anti-tank
Weaponry like javelins the number of Russian tanks rapidly declined due to being completely destroyed
within the first year of the war over 1 000 tanks were either lost or captured by opposing
forces [Music] an intelligence organization in the Netherlands oryx reported that there
is Visual Evidence confirming the destruction or capture of at least 1900 Russian tanks since
the beginning of the invasion this accounts for approximately two-thirds of the initial
Invasion Force although some reports suggest the number could be as high as 3511 tanks
the t-72 which formed the majority of the Russian tank forces has particularly suffered in the war
consequently Russia was compelled to tap into its reserves of Tanks resorting to
Antiquated technology for these reasons t-55 t62 and BTR 50s were retrieved from
Storage given necessary maintenance and transported to the front lines VIA trains
it is estimated that Russia had around 2800 t-55s and 2 500 t-62s stored in reserve [Music]
another crucial Factor at play to the Russians decision deploying outdated
tanks is the inability of new tank production to keep Pace with the rate of vehicle loss
one of the main tank plants in Russia has a monthly production
capacity of around 20 tanks provided all necessary components are available
however with an average loss of approximately 150 tanks per month in Ukraine there is no feasible
way to replenish the diminishing number of Russian tanks with newly manufactured ones
thus despite the limited capabilities of the Russian Cold War era tanks there is an increasing
number of them being deployed even in the certain areas on the front lines this Revelation may not
be surprising considering that Ukrainian forces have captured at least 544 Russian tanks since the
conflict began with 79 of them being damaged and another 65 being completely abandoned
sanctions have also played a major role in Russia's decision to bring the t-55 and t-62
tanks out of retirement at the outset of the conflict Western Nations impose severe sanctions
on Russia with the hope of crippling its economy and pressuring Vladimir Putin to withdraw his
forces from Ukraine however this strategy did not yield the intended results as experts anticipated
that the immediate impact of the sanctions would be limited instead the implemented
sanctions would have long-term consequences which are currently unfolding in Russia
according to the World Bank and the international monetary fund Russia's GDP declined by 2.1 percent
in 2022 as a result of the sanctions due to the sanctions that have been in place for over a year
Russia is facing challenges in obtaining the necessary parts
and Technology to efficiently manufacture more tanks [Music]
another Factor driving the reactivation of t-55 and t-62 tanks is their relative Simplicity
compared to Modern tanks this Simplicity offers advantages for Russia on multiple fronts it is
more efficient to train new soldiers on operating Cold War era technology than providing training
on complex modern tank technology this is particularly applicable to the t-55 tanks
which date back to the 1950s and have simpler components and basic targeting systems [Music]
in regard to the current state of their tanks Russia's decision to deploy these outdated tanks
is significant although Ukraine received support from Western Nations and has access to Western
technology Ukraine is commonly recognized as the disadvantaged party in the situation
Sierra Leone a defense studies lecturer at King's College London argues that Russia's older tanks
might ultimately have a meaningful impact this is because despite claims that Russia has been
scraping the barrel since the onset of the conflict Russia is still actively engaged
in the fighting and possesses substantial reserves of hardware and assets Russian forces have shifted
their focus to defensive positions rather than launching offensives by using the old tanks to the
battlefield therefore this is another compelling reason why Cold War Tanks are being retrieved from
Storage refurbished and deployed with minor modifications to their outdated technology
the t-55 and t-62 tanks have tactical capabilities better suited for defensive operations soldiers
in these tanks are likely to provide long-range supporting fire instead of pushing forward along
the front lines the Kremlin is likely aware that these tanks will be unable to overcome
the Western weapons advancing towards the front line for the offensive however if Russia can
continue to deploy outdated tanks to obstruct the Ukrainian military they may eventually exhaust
their forces hence t-55 and t-62 tanks May soon be the only obstacle preventing Ukrainian forces
from achieving a decisive victory in the war moreover while Ukraine may have an advantage in
terms of quality by having supplies of 230 NATO tanks Russia despite its losses still maintains
superiority and quantity recent reports indicate that Russia could potentially deploy up to 5
000 older tanks in the conflict thus this becomes a significant turning point in the situation
despite Russia deploying older tanks rumors have once circulated claiming that Russia
has utilized its newly introduced t-14 Armada battle tanks [Music]
according to the real estate news agency the t-14 Armada was reportedly engaged in combat
with Ukrainian defensive positions in an undisclosed location within the conflict
Zone but it did not participate in direct assaults these speculations gained traction
between January and February of 2023 although concrete Visual Evidence to substantiate these
claims remained elusive what do you think that's all for today thanks for watching
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