Russia is emptying its military stockpiles. Now the Russians are probably using tanks that are more than 70 years old.

For the first time, Russia is seizing 70-year-old tanks from military depots.

Soviet tanks from the 1950s were sent west towards Ukraine from Russian military depots in the east.

It displays a variety of surprising photos and videos.

This is the first time since the war that such old tanks have been removed from storage.

This is what independent Russian military analysts write Conflict Intelligence Teamheadquartered in Georgia.

It began to be used in 1946

The column containing tanks more than 70 years old was discovered when it was sent from Promorskeje in far eastern Russia.

Tanks of the type T-54 and T-55. The T-54 entered service with the Soviet Army in 1946, and was discontinued in 1959.

It was decommissioned in 1994.

The tanks were taken out of the stock of 1295 Russian army reserve tanks.

It’s still too early to tell where the 70-year-old T-54 tanks are headed. Pictures show that they were transported on railroad cars to the West.

Whether the front in Ukraine was the target remains uncertain.

But it was from these warehouses that it was first discovered that the Russian army had taken several hundred T-62 tanks. They were used in the sixties. A few weeks later they came to the fore in Ukraine.

Therefore, many observers believe that now the Russian generals had to dig deeper into their reserves.

What will Russia do with these old tanks?

This is just one of many examples of very old weapons being recovered from Russian warehouses.

– Obviously, this indicates that the Russian army has serious problems with obtaining a sufficient number of armored vehicles, he writes CIT.

Ukrainians also use a lot of old Soviet military equipment, and they have been in severe shortages for a long time.

But unlike the Russians, in recent weeks the Ukrainians have received large amounts of weapons and equipment from Western countries.

When Russia invaded Ukraine last February, an estimated 2,500 tanks were involved. One year later, Dutch military analysts at Oryx indicated that Russia had lost at least 1,700 tanks.

This is the bare minimum, and is based on verified photos and videos. Before the war, Russia was able to produce between 100 and 250 tanks per year.

On the one hand, it cannot be ruled out that this is a war strategy. The war in Ukraine now features many conflicting messages, as both sides try to confuse the other.

But there is broad agreement on one thing: the time is approaching for a major Ukrainian counteroffensive, which could be absolutely decisive for ending the war.

Swiss analysis: – A deep crisis

– This is a simple arithmetic, Swiss military analyst Markus Kuepp tells the newspaper T online. Works at the Military Academy in Zurich.

He compares Russia’s stockpile of tanks and other equipment with what it has lost. Koep believes that the Russian army is facing a catastrophic defeat.

This is expected to end in October.

– Russian reserves have been overestimated. Most of their material was from the 50’s and 60’s. It looks good on paper but has no operational value.

It is believed that the growing shortage of equipment is also a consequence of systemic corruption, both in Russian society and in the army.

Russia has deceived the West into believing that the country is big and powerful. But anyone who ventures out of the glittering capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg sees the reality very differently.

On the other hand, the Ukrainians managed to stop the Russians, mainly with outdated Soviet equipment. When Russia invaded a year ago, many analysts thought Putin would win quickly.