Last month, videos circulated across Telegram showed T-54/T-55 series tanks reportedly heading westward.
⚡️Soviet medium tanks T-55 were spotted for the first time in the war zone in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/s0KnaT5TL5
— War Monitor (@WarMonitors) April 13, 2023
Speculation at the time was that the tanks could be heading to Ukraine.
Now, this week, a still image was posted to social media of a Russian soldier standing in front of one of the tanks reportedly in the Donbas region.
The photo reportedly was taken in somewhere in Eastern Ukraine, while Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) reported that the “ancient” tanks are already deployed to the Zaporozhzhia Oblast.
Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) also reported that the “ancient” tanks are already deployed to the Zaporozhzhia Oblast.
“A far cry from the army that invaded just over a year ago,” @UAWeapons noted in its caption.
There has been speculation that militia forces of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” are being equipped with the old tanks, as Russia has also deployed more modern T-90s in recent months to Ukraine.
Yet, as previously reported, units of the Kremlin’s premier tank force 1st Guard Tank Army (1GTA) could be re-equipped with Cold War-era T-62 tanks to make up for previous losses – even as the elite force had previously been due to receive the next-generation T-14 Armata main battle tank (MBT).
Since launching its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin has lost thousands of MBTs and countless other vehicles. Its current production of new vehicles simply can’t replace those destroyed.
According to recent British Ministry of Defence (MoD) intelligence, since last summer, Moscow has ordered that approximately 800 T-62s be taken from storage and made ready for deployment to Ukraine. Some of those tanks – older than any of the crews operating them – have reportedly received upgraded sighting systems, which are likely to improve their effectiveness at night. However, most military analysts contend that it wouldn’t greatly enhance the overall capabilities of the Cold War-era tank that first entered service in 1961.
As one former U.S. Defense Department official told 19FortyFive: “Putin is sending museum pieces to die in Ukraine. That is really embarrassing.”
Cancel the Parades
The losses have also been so bad that it was reported on Thursday that Russian Vladimir Putin has been forced to cancel a number of the annual Victory Day parade due to a shortage of tanks.
Scheduled parades planned to mark the World War II Soviet victory over Nazi Germany have been called off in the Kursk and Belogrod Oblasts, which border Ukraine.
Russia has cited “security concerns,” but the more likely reason remains a shortage of equipment for multiple events around the country. This likely wasn’t an easy decision for the Kremlin to make.
“Russia’s annual Victory Day celebrations are closely associated with Putin personally,” the Atlantic Council’s Peter Dickinson wrote following the news that the annual events are being canceled or considerably scaled back.
“Throughout his reign, he has placed the Soviet World War II experience at the heart of efforts to rebuild Russian national pride following the perceived humiliations of the 1990s,” the Atlantic Council’s Dickinson added. “Putin has transformed traditional Russian reverence for the Soviet war effort into a quasi-religious victory cult complete with its own dogmas, feast days, and heretics. Victory Day itself has become by far the biggest holiday of the year, with the defeat of Nazi Germany elevated above all other events and achievements as the defining moment in Russian history.”
As of now, it appears that Russia’s main holiday parade in Moscow, scheduled for May 9, will proceed as planned – even if Putin may have little to actually celebrate as any victory in Ukraine remains elusive.
It is important to note, however, that Putin has never let obstacles get in the way of the annual spectacle. In 2020, at the height of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Victory Parade was only delayed but not canceled – as it marked the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Last year’s parade was also scaled back, as Putin was unable to celebrate a victory over Ukraine.
Yet, already this year, Russia staged a massive Stalingrad victory parade to mark the 80th anniversary of its victory over the Nazis in the battle that was seen as the turning point of the war. These events may be crucial to propagating the myth that another victory is just around the corner.
As a result, the Kremlin is likely now scrambling to find every tank and another vehicle possible for its big show this year.
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Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
