Desperate Putin Forced to Pull 1970s Tanks from 'Graveyard' as Modern Stocks Run Dry

[riversedge]

Source: daily beast




IN WITH THE OLD
Leigh Kimmins Published 07.15.25 10:42AM EDT



Vladimir Putin is pulling rusty old Soviet-era tanks from the scrapheap as modern stocks of his war machines run low. T-80s and T-72As are being retrieved from so-called tank graveyards to replenish numbers on the frontline. The T-72A was first introduced in 1979 as an improved version of the original T-72, but its use has dwindled over the years. The Soviet-made tank is now mainly deployed by developing countries and militant groups. The T-80 is even older, having been introduced in 1976. However, according to analysis by open-source intelligence (OSINT), the old sluggers are staging a comeback, mostly because Putin’s modern weaponry stocks are dwindling. Decommissioned Soviet tanks are kept in storage, dubbed tank graveyards. But battlefield losses mean that the Russian armed forces are now patching them up and sending them back out to the frontlines. “Based on recent signs at major tank storage bases like the 349th that hold T-72As, it appears Russia is prepping them to bring them back to service,” an OSINT researcher wrote on X. The 349th base is a storage facility in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, where large stocks of old weaponry are held.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/desperate-putin-forced-to-pull-1970s-tanks-from-graveyard-as-modern-stocks-run-dry/

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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sits inside a T-90AM tank during a visit to an arms exhibition in the Urals town of Nizhny Tagil, on September 9, 2011. AFP PHOTO/ RIA-NOVOSTI POOL/ ALEXEY DRUZHININ (Photo credit should read ALEXEY DRUZHININ/AFP via Getty Images)
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

[flashman13]

1. This is really old news.

[slightlv]

2. Man, I'm reading and hearing completely conflicting info

about Russia's ability to wage war, and to continue doing it. I know many of the reports that Russia can not be beaten and will never quit are based on past experiences and patterns via Napoleon and others. But I honestly just don't know. And now we have no trusted intelligence on them at all. Common sense tells me that Ukraine is not fighting a futile war, that trump is. But I also recognize that sometimes my "common sense" differs from everyone else's... but I am truly confused as to what to believe about them. From a few YouTubes I've listened to (and probably NOT the best of info!), the sanctions have not really cut into Russia... that there've been other governments willing to diss the American sanctions... governments like India's. With GDP figures from the BRIC nations together adding more value than the governments from the West... that not only America is in decline, but also all the Western nations. On one hand, I really do question that. OTOH, trump trying desperately to erect buildings and golf courses in BRIC countries lend an air of credence to me.

[Strelnikov_]

5. "Russia can not be beaten"

I feel that Russia today is closer to Imperial Russia than Soviet Russia. Rampant corruption and incompetence.

They were badly beaten in the Russo-Japanese war and WW I. They did give the Central Powers a bit of a fight at first, but eventually the poor leadership and structural instability of the country brought them down. It was not that the Central Powers beat them on the battlefield, it is more that the Russian soldiers tired of the slaughter and decided to go home.

[Aristus]

3. And with the Russians' meticulous, scrupulous attention to detail,

most of those tanks have been left out in the open, exposed to the elements for decades, rusting away, optics clouding over, rubber fittings getting dry-rot, gun barrels warping due to extreme temperature changes, all because some vodka-soaked Russian depot workers couldn't be bothered to do the bare minimum of storage maintenance and management.

With this batch they're sending into combat, I don't think we can look forward to any of them sending their turrets into orbit with one shot to the ammo carousel. They'll probably break down before they even get put onto the rail cars for shipping.

[Torchlight]

4. I think Putin's got about 18 months left before his tanks are on empty.

ISW and British intelligence have warned that Russian armor reserves may run out by late 2025 at current rates. Despite current production #s (150-250 new MBTs / month built in Russia), most “new” tanks are just refurbished older models from storage.

Ukraine’s success holding off and its devastating losses on Russian armored forces for over three years has begun re-writing battlefield tactics. Ukraine has revolutionized the use of drones for reconnaissance, artillery spotting, and increasingly, blunting, then halting, then turning back armored assaults.

(my awkward summation from an amalgam of sources over the past week: Kiev Ind., Army Times, that sort of thing)

[Grins]

6. THIS - is the army Trump told Zelenskyy, "You're gambling with World War III!"

Russia has lost TEN OF THOUSANDS of tanks, personnel carriers, combat vehicles, trucks, and recently - 1/3rd of its strategic bomber force.

Couple that with Russian military deaths of 250,000* and total casualties at over 950,000.

And it’s “leadership?” A joke at the top, but at the unit level, corrupt, incompetent, poorly trained and equipped, with every-man-for-himself morale.

The Russian army is a spent force.

* Perspective: The United States had 58,000 deaths in Vietnam over 12-years. Russia, in Ukraine, has 431% more - in 1/4th the time.

[Grins]

7. Forgot to add...

A Russian army dependent on “donated” N. Korean infantry, N. Korean artillery shells, and Iranian drones.

[GB_RN]

8. Not Directed At The OP...

But I’m not sure why this is even being treated as if it’s a new development. Russia blew through a good chunk of their “modern” tanks early on, thanks to the saints*, Javelin and NLAW.

They’ve been pulling back inventory of old shit they sold to other countries and out of their own mothball yards. Hell, they’ve pulled out tanks from as far back as the late ‘40s through the ‘60s. Do they fare any better? Nope and not surprisingly, blow up even faster. That’s why you see the so-called turtle tanks; the ones with aluminum parking sheds on them.😂

St Javelin is not my creation. Just kind of borrowed the appellation that had been given to those weapons very early on. At any rate, St Javelin is also an actual company that sells St Javelin-themed clothes/gear and donates profits to help the Ukrainian military, etc. As of right now, 95% of what they sell is actually made IN Ukraine…