Russia Pulls Soviet-Era Tanks From Storage To Use In Ukraine As Kyiv Receives Leopards

The Russian army is now bringing out Soviet-era tanks from storage to use in the war in Ukraine as Kyiv receives Leopard tanks from allies, according to a report.

The Russian military has begun removing T-54 and T-55 tanks from the 1295th Central Tank Reserve and Storage Base in the Primorsky Territory in the country's Far East, per a report from open-source intelligence researchers at the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), as translated via Google Translate.

The Soviet-era T-54 tank was manufactured until 1959 while the T-55 tank was produced until 1979. Both tanks lack the long-range surveillance scopes, ballistic computers and fire-control systems that modern war vehicles have. The T-54 tank also lacks gun stabilization.

Prior to bringing out T-54 and T-55 tanks, CIT noted that the Russian army also previously brought out T-62 tanks from the same storage reserve in Primorsky.

"Previously, we have already recorded the dispatch of equipment from there: for example, in October, a trainload of T-62M(V) tanks, also departing from Arsenyev, was filmed in Yekaterinburg," the CIT wrote in its report. "It should be noted that the facts of sending and using the T-62 tanks by the Russian Armed Forces during the current invasion have been recorded since the summer, but the removal from storage of the T-54/55 was recorded for the first time."

It is unclear why Russia is bringing out Soviet-era war equipment from storage. The Russian army is believed to have lost at least half of its modern tank arsenal since it invaded Ukraine in February last year, according to researchers at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

In comparison, Ukraine is receiving a number of more modern, German-made Leopard tanks from Poland. As of Wednesday, the Polish government has already sent about 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

The German government is also set to deliver at least 88 Leopard 1 tanks to Kyiv on top of 80 Leopard 2 tanks it has already approved for delivery to Ukraine.

Earlier this week, the United States announced it is expediting the delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, with the aim of getting the war machines to the combat zone by the fall.