Putin's dwindling arsenal: Russian tank stockpile halved since war began

One of the analysts dealing with the war in Ukraine analyzed the stockpile resources available to the Russians. Based on satellite images, he concluded that Putin's army faces increasing problems with armoured vehicles, including tanks.

The analysis's results were published on the Covert Cabal channel on YouTube. Comparing Russian stockpiles before the outbreak of the war to the current situation, it was concluded that almost half of all armoured vehicles accumulated since the 1950s have disappeared from the warehouses.

In 2021, the number of equipment was estimated at over 22,000 various types of armoured vehicles, while currently, it is about 12,000 transporters, infantry fighting vehicles, and tanks. At the same time, it was highlighted that part of this number consists of equipment in very poor condition that is no longer eligible for modernization. The biggest shortages concern tanks, particularly T-72, T-80, and the latest T-90, while the older ones are mainly T-64 and T-55 models in poor technical condition.

Similar conclusions were recently drawn by Jarosław Wolski, a Polish defence analyst, who pointed out that the Russians increasingly rely on assistance from North Korea. This allows them to obtain additional spare parts, enabling the return to service of T-62M, T-55, and T-54.

These are tanks from the 1960s and 1950s. The T-62M used 115 mm calibre guns, and the T-55 and T-54 used 100 mm calibre guns, which, due to the lack of modern optical instruments, do not pose a significant threat and make night operations impossible. Despite this, the Russians realize that even an old tank is better than none, so they decide to refurbish them.

The situation is not much better for infantry fighting vehicles and armoured transporters. Stocks of these constructions have also significantly shrunk, and additionally, the remaining units in the warehouses are mostly "military junk."

"Russia has probably already surpassed the peak of its capabilities related to the modernization of stored infantry fighting vehicles and armoured transporters. Most of the remaining infantry fighting vehicles are rusty and hollow shells that have been standing there for years. They are starting to pull even older armoured vehicles from the warehouses, which they did not want to use before. Still, apparently, they simply have no other options," explained an OSINT analyst using the pseudonym Jompy, quoted by the Unian agency in a comment for Radio Svoboda.

In February this year, Ukrainians boasted about the destruction of nearly 13,000 armoured vehicles and infantry fighting vehicles belonging to the Russians. These were mostly BMP-1/2 infantry fighting vehicles.

Since the beginning of this year, the Kurganmashzavod plants have delivered several batches of BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles and BMD-4M airborne fighting vehicles to the Russian army, but they probably did not include many units of these vehicles. As a result, even combined with the refurbishment of older designs, it is becoming increasingly difficult to replenish the ongoing losses caused by Ukrainian actions.