Half tanks without a tower: Russia seizes thousands of units of preserved equipment - the media

In the period from September 2021 to 2022, the number of tanks and other armored vehicles in warehouses in Buryatia decreased by 40%. And from the warehouses in Eastern Siberia came 35% of the stored armored vehicles. Russia removed thousands of canned Soviet tanks from the storage, with the main part of the reduction - 32%, was recorded after the first mobilization was announced at the end of 2022. This was reported by the Defense Post observers, giving the corresponding numbers.

It is reported that at the largest military warehouse in Buryatia (state formation in the Russian Federation) since September 2021 more than 40% of tanks and armored personnel carriers have decreased. And in the warehouse in Vagzhanovo (Eastern Siberia) there were 2 270 units of armored vehicles, which is 1 570 units less than in September 2021.

According to the instructions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the most valuable military equipment is stored in ventilated and heating premises, and the least valuable - in the open. The observers noted that there are 10 hangars in Vagzhanov, in which, according to the publication, about 400 tanks can be stored. Mostly these are T-62 tanks mainly in a non-working condition, since about half of the equipment had no towers and was noticeably damaged.

A similar picture was observed in May 2023. Then the defense department of the Russian Federation ordered to repair and modernize about 800 tanks of the T-62, which provided for the installation of additional protection, more modern engines, opto-electronic systems and thermal imagers.

The authors of the material also noted that in order to fill the significant tank losses in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry reimports tank and missile units that previously sold India and Myanmar to strengthen their connections on the Ukrainian Front. The reimport of the necessary equipment is also included. "Reimported equipment includes thousands of optical sights and cameras to modernize the T-72 tanks," the observers said.