Russia's tank reserves dwindle as losses outpace production
The portal of the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that the Russians have already lost over 3,000 tanks during the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainians' destroyed, damaged, or captured tanks are being replaced mainly by older equipment from post-Soviet warehouses, but these show decreasing numbers of equipment suitable for recovery and deployment to the front.
"Since the beginning of the war, Russia has lost over 3,000 tanks. Until now, Moscow could compensate for these losses with old stock. However, satellite images show that the warehouses are emptying," noted the German portal.
How many tanks do the Russians still have?
An analysis of satellite images of 16 Russian bases shows that by mid-2024, they still have about 3,600 tanks. For comparison, in 2021, before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, they had about 6,300 tanks.
At the same time, experts estimate that the Russian arms industry, working at full capacity, can supply the army with about 225 new tanks annually. Although initially, the Russians were remarkable for their resilience to sanctions and mobilization capabilities, they are currently losing tanks at a rate that makes replacing losses impossible (around 100 tanks monthly).
This is precisely why warehouses, where primarily old Soviet-era tanks like the T-64 or T-62 from the 1960s and even older, now outdated T-55/54 tanks were stored for years, are emptying so quickly. Although these types of tanks do not present significant combat capabilities and their crews are not protected even against drones, they are increasingly appearing in reports from the front in Ukraine.
The Russians are running out of T-80 tanks, T-90s are also lacking
The situation with the T-80, which is considered the best tank in the USSR, is particularly dire for the Russians. Reports indicate that the number of such machines in Russian warehouses has decreased by almost 80 percent.
At the same time, the Russians no longer have any T-90 family tanks "in reserve." These are the best machines they have used during the war in Ukraine, including the newest T-90M tanks equipped with a 125 mm gun, an improved fire control system, and auxiliary armaments, such as two machine guns (approximately 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm). Their designs were reinforced with modular reactive armour called Relikt. In July this year, it was confirmed that the number of T-90M tanks lost in Ukraine exceeded 100 units.
