Press
The wear and tear on tanks in the Ukraine war poses a challenge for Putin. Satellite images show that the Soviet stocks are gradually depleting.
Moscow – The supply of military equipment in Russia – especially tanks – seemed endless. The Soviet-era tank depots were Wladimir Putin a real ace up its sleeve in the Ukraine war. A research by South German Newspaper However, it is now clear that Putin is also running out of steam.
Putin’s bitter tank losses in the Ukraine war: Russia is in a dilemma
Almost 3200 tanks Russia should Ukraine War lost so far, as confirmed by satellite images and pictures from the front. That is more destroyed and rendered unusable tanks than Putin’s army at the beginning of the war.
And the number of unreported cases is likely to be significantly higher. In 2023 alone, Russia is expected to Reuters 1,120 tanks to the Ukrainian military. Until now, Moscow has been able to rely on its old tank inventory and modernize vehicles from the Cold War era and send them to the front to compensate for wear and tear.
Enormous losses in the Ukraine war: Putin replaces tanks with “quantity instead of quality”
“Moscow has been able to trade quality for quantity by removing thousands of older tanks from storage at a rate that at times reached as high as 90 vehicles per month,” according to a report by the think tank “International Institute for Strategic Studies” (IISS). But that could soon come to an end. According to a Research the South German show that Putin’s tank stockpile may soon be running out.
The main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers in particular are suffering from enormous wear and tear. Although the old Soviet tanks cannot hold a candle to the modern vehicles in terms of technology, firepower and protection, the Soviet equipment is still a suitable replacement. In addition, many of the old vehicles are used primarily as self-propelled howitzers and fire from a safe distance so as not to be directly involved in combat.
Russia’s high losses in the Ukraine war: Putin is even running out of Soviet reserves
As early as March, an analysis of satellite images had shown that Russia had used up a good 25 to 40 percent of Soviet reserves, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Three months ago, a significant decline in Russian reserves was already evident.
In addition, many of the materials available at that time were simply in “poor” condition or even “unusable”.
Tank depots empty: Putin can only partially compensate for losses on the Ukraine front
In the South German According to the 87 military sites analyzed, the number of military sites has now even halved in some cases. With the support of a AIAccording to the model, for example, 857 vehicles were counted in the 111th Central Tank Reserve Base of the Russian Army at the beginning of the invasion in 2022. However, satellite images from October 2022 – eight months after the start of the war – show only 431 vehicles. As of today, the base is almost empty.
The base near the town of Arsenyev presents a similar picture. And this is not just a problem for tank supplies per se. Existing tanks are also suffering from the shortage. This is because the old stocks are being stripped down and recycled to repair the tanks at the front. With the current losses, the IISS says Russia will have two to three years before Putin runs out of tanks.
Compared to the South German Michael Gjerstad, conflict researcher at the IISS, said there are “around 3,200 tanks still in stock, but the vast majority of them are in a bad condition and require significant repairs.” Time now seems to be on Ukraine’s side. (sure)
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