Does Russia end in tanks?

OSINT analysts claim that the reserves of Soviet tanks in Russian warehouses are coming to an end. Novyevropa understands whether there will be anything to fight the Russian Army in the near future

Soviet old man

In the Ukrainian media, articles began to appear that Russia was running out of tanks. “In 2025, Russian tanks“ ceased to exist as a factor on the battlefield. ” This is not an exaggeration, but a reflection of the facts: all the technique capable of fighting, either destroyed, or is not subject to repair, says the Dialogue publication. - According to the Warspotting project, in May 2025 the minimum losses of Russian tanks for the entire invasion of the invasion were recorded. Not because they are protected, but because they simply are no longer there. Up to 80% of the warehouses were empty back in 2024. ”

The Main Intelligence Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports that Russia is forced to return the outdated T-62 tanks due to the lack of modern technology. “As a result of large -scale irrevocable losses of weapons and military equipment during the war against Ukraine, the Russian Federation resorts to mass re -ceating of obsolete combat vehicles,” Gur says. -Against the backdrop of the depletion of reserves of technology of the 1970s of release in the Russian Federation, an active return to the operation of even more ancient samples, including tanks of the T-62 type, began. The restoration of these machines takes place mainly on the basis of the 103rd armored repair plant, located in the village of Atamanovka, the Trans-Baikal Territory. The supply of T-62 tanks to the combat zone is carried out mainly from the compositions of the Eastern Military District. ”

On June 27, 2025, the GUR recorded the transfer of 21 T-62 tanks from the Eastern Military District to the European part of Russia. The technical condition of most of these machines, according to Ukrainian intelligence, is unsatisfactory: for decades, tanks have been stored in the open air, without maintenance.

However, due to the acute shortage of modern main combat tanks, such as the T-90M and T-72B3M, the use of the T-62 is considered as a temporary but forced solution.

According to the GUR, key factors limiting the possibilities of the production of modern armored vehicles in Russia, there is a lack of industrial capacities and a deficiency of imported high -tech components. In practice, the T-62 is used not only as active combat units, but also as stationary firing points to strengthen defensive positions.

The YouTube channel “To be or” with reference to Western Osint analysts who studied satellite pictures said that only 251 units of tanks in good condition remained in Russian warehouses, 1804 tanks in bad, as well as 1287 tanks that can only go to spare parts.

At the same time, the American Institute for Studying War (ISW) reports that Russia's consumption of tank reserves of the Soviet era is apparently slowing down. Perhaps this is due to the growing transition of Russia to the use of motorcycles and ATVs on the battlefield. The Army of the Russian Federation, according to ISW, still has 46 percent of its pre-war tanks reserves, 42 percent of her pre-war reserves of infantry combat vehicles and 48 percent of her pre-war reserves of armored personnel carriers.

The reserves are depleted

According to the United States, at the beginning of April 2025, Russia lost more than 4,000 tanks during the war in Ukraine. This was stated by the Supreme Commander -in -Chief of the United Armed Forces of NATO in Europe, American General Christopher Kavoli, at a hearing in the US Armed Forces Committee in Washington.

“Russia had from 2.5 to 3 thousand tanks at the beginning of the 2022 invasion of 2022,” the Russian Military Expert tells “Novo-Europe” on the basis of anonymity, “about 10 thousand were in the reserve. Every month, only one Uralvagonzavod restores approximately 130 T-72 units from storage bases, and also produces about 20 new T-90 “breakthroughs”. Over the three years of the war, UVZ, the Omsk plant and other armored repair plants gave the army more than 6 thousand units of the modernized T-72. So 4 thousand tanks remained on conservation. Of these, 400 T-62 and a certain amount of T-54 and T-55. But the rest are quite repaired T-72. Therefore, the army of the Russian Federation with tanks will not have problems in the near future. They are simply cherished from Ukrainian drones. It is likely that they are preparing for a great offensive. It is interesting that, judging by the parade of May 9 in St. Petersburg, it is to the Western Military District that the new T-90 and the T-72 have passed the most deep modernization. ”

According to the Russian expert, the Russian military -industrial complex not only restores Soviet equipment, but also tries to create new products. Now 10 copies of the tank support combat vehicles are gathering. Work is underway on the Sturm project-a robotic complex of assault machines on the T-90M platform.

There are plans to resume the production of gas turbine tanks on a modernized T-80 chassis with a combat module from the T-90M. In Omsk, they are even going to build a new plant for this.

“To argue that Russia has ended, in my opinion, very prematurely,” a military analyst, a former SBU officer Ivan Stupak, tells Novi-Europe. - There is a Uralvagonzavod that continuously produces new tanks and modernizes the long -term storage from bases. At the same time, tanks, indeed, may not be enough for large offensive operations. There is already a deficiency of this type of weapons. But the army of the Russian Federation does not have a crisis. According to experts, Russia produces 250-300 new T-90 “breakthrough” tanks per year. In the coolest configuration, such a tank costs about 4.5 million US dollars. ”

“Apparently, Russia is really bad with tanks,” the military observer David Sharp expresses his opinion “New-Europe”. - In the warhead, on February 24, 2024, the army of the Russian Federation had a little more than 2.5 thousand tanks. And at the bases of long -term storage, to the present moment remained only physically and morally obsolete junk. After all, at first, the most confused specimens were taken from there. And to the present moment of the repair vehicles there are already very few. I think that the real figure of loss of tanks by the army of the Russian Federation to date is slightly higher than 4 thousand. In addition to combat losses, there is a considerable number of broken equipment. After all, the cars that are not in the best condition are operated in the most stringent conditions and far from always qualified personnel. ” According to David Sharp, many tanks hit the warehouses are far from new. After all, they were stored after the collapse of the USSR without the necessary conservation in the open air.

It burns like a candle

The tanks, according to Ivan Stupak, do not live in a modern war for a very short time. FPV cries can destroy them even at a distance of 10-15 kilometers from the front line. “The tank burns like a candle in the church,” adds a military analyst. - From drones have not yet come up with reliable protection. Because of this, the tanks can be considered an outdated type of weapons, not justifying the hopes assigned to him. True, even knowing the experience of Ukraine, Western countries continue to produce tanks. It is clear that armored equipment is necessary. At least in order to bring soldiers on the battlefield. But the BMP with a landing, in conditions of dominance in the air of Drones-Kamikadze, quickly turns into a mass grave of infantry. Therefore, the Russians moved to the tactics of assault on small groups on civilian technology: motorcycles, buggy, cars. ”

David Sharp says that in the modern war, tanks became very vulnerable on the battlefield. Both anti -tank systems and drone operators are hunting for them. And Russia has not yet been able to find an antidote from drones. Tanks in the army of the Russian Federation are not in the most professional way. For example, we have repeatedly seen how tank columns are sent to the mined fields for assaults. All this led to the fact that the combat significance of the tank in the Ukrainian war fell sharply. The massive use of high -speed and highly maneuverable vehicles, such as buggy, motorcycles and ATVs, is associated with this. Russia is learning to advance with a small number of tanks. While she succeeds.