Russia

Russia’s most modern and technologically advanced tank, the T-90M, has appeared in photos and videos in Ukraine just a handful of times since the beginning of the invasion. One video posted online last week showed a T-90M on a mud road, hidden under trees. But its relative rarity — and technological sophistication — has not saved it from Ukrainian attacks.

Shortly after the first T-90M was spotted in April, Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsapliyenko posted images standing in front of the charred remains of one such tank. Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor in February has been accompanied by a steady stream of images of burnt-out tanks, sometimes with their turrets blown off, as well as tanks on fire with their crews trapped inside.

According to military analysts, these tank losses are one of the major issues facing Russia as it seeks to continue its offensive in Ukraine. Russian military doctrine has always been to build and maintain large numbers of tanks, according to James Lewis, an analyst at the Strategic and International Studies Institute in Washington. The country’s tank fleet — which is estimated to be 2,800 strong with another 10,000 in storage — consists mostly of modernized Soviet tanks manned by crews of three. Russia has lost 237 T-72B3 tanks, hundreds more T-72 variants as well as at least 170 T-80 models since the start of the attack on Ukraine in February, according to Oryx, an intelligence blog that tracks Russian military losses. Russia’s 4th Guards Tank Division, which is solely equipped with T-80s, reportedly lost as many as 41 tanks in just two weeks, according to military analysis platform Battle Order. While destroying a tank does not mean the crew is killed, there has also been a high rate of casualties among Russian tank crews.  A total of 6% of Russia’s deaths in Ukraine have been among men from tank regiments, according to a casualty tally based on publicly available information that is kept by independent media outlet Mediazona. Russia’s rapid rate of attrition has led some observers to question whether the tank has a future in modern warfare at all.But Russia’s losses are indicative of a failure to conduct combined operations in Ukraine rather than any problems with tanks in particular, analysts told The Moscow Times. A Russian T-72 tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces in Mariupol.Mvs.gov.ua (CC BY 4.0)“Tanks are supposed to fight as part of combined formations, but in terms of how they've been tactically used, Russia hasn’t done that effectively,” said Nick Reynolds, a military expert at the London-based Royal United Services Institute.  In theory, tanks should be supported by infantry and artillery that are able to locate and destroy enemy soldiers armed with anti-tank weapons. In the early days of the war, columns of Russian armor became jammed up along Ukrainian highways, allowing Ukrainian infantry to pick off tanks — and other vehicles — using a range of portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons. U.S.-made Javelins and British-Swedish manufactured Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapons (NLAWs), have been responsible for hundreds of Russian tank losses. When fired, the Javelins ascend 150 meters in the air before plummeting down onto the tank’s turret, where the vehicle’s armor is the thinnest. “Everyone in the crew was shell-shocked,” Russian tank crew member Alexei Ukhachev said of an incident in which his tank was hit by a Javelin in the early days of the war in a May interview with Russian media outlet Moskovsky Komsomolets.  Penetration of the turret can cause the tank to “cook off” if the ammunition stored in the carousel below the turret catches fire.

In such cases, the subsequent explosion can send the turret shooting tens of meters into the air. “People used to say the best way to destroy a tank is to use another tank, but the new missiles make you wonder about that,” said Lewis. The T-72B3, a more mobile version of the Soviet T-72, makes up the backbone of Russia’s tank fleet and has been heavily relied on in Ukraine.

But Russia has also deployed hundreds of T-80 tanks, including the T80U, T80BV and the most modernized T-80, the T80BVM, which came into service in 2018. In addition, tank losses have meant Moscow is taking a number of older tanks out of storage to deploy to Ukraine. Soviet era T-62s, a tank which entered service in 1961, have been spotted in Ukraine and on trains being transported across Russia, presumably on their way to the battlefield. In a bid to protect themselves against drone attacks and anti-tank missiles, Russian troops in Ukraine have added a number of makeshift cages to the tops of tanks. A destroyed Russian T-72 tank on display at the Royal Castle square in Warsaw, Poland.Wojtek RADWANSKI / AFPThey have also used sandbags, pine logs and metal cages  to reinforce their vehicles, according to photos and videos published online.

U.K.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in May that the sight of these tanks was “nothing short of tragic.” “These measures are clearly an attempt to defend tanks from above, but it doesn’t work,” said Reynolds. Ukhachev told Moskovsky Komsomolets how tank crews removed the roof screens when they realized they restricted the tank gun’s movement and made it difficult to dismount in case of a fire. Russia’s failure to find an answer to modern anti-tank weaponry brings the future of Russia’s long-term reliance on tanks in warfare into question, according to Lewis. “Tanks will still have a place, but their future will be a smaller role because of their vulnerability,” he said.  





Unlimited Portal Access + Monthly Magazine - 12 issues-Publication from Jan 2021


Buy Our Merchandise (Peace Series)

 


Contribute US to Start Broadcasting



It's Voluntary! Take care of your Family, Friends and People around You First and later think about us. Its Fine if you dont wish to contribute and if you wish to contribute then think about the Homeless first and Feed them. We can survive with your wishes too :-). You can Buy our Merchandise too which are of the finest quality.

Debit/Credit/UPI

UPI/Debit/Credit

Paytm


STRIPE


Russia Calls U.K. Courts ?A Farce? Over Assange Case


Lukashenko Says Helped Russia Stop Concert Gunmen From Fleeing to Belarus


Russian Security Chiefs Blame Concert Attack on Ukraine, West


[Russia] - Ukraine Says Weekend Missile Attack Damaged 4 Russian Ships


Moscow Court Remands Eighth Suspect in Concert Hall Attack


Moscow Concert Attack: What We Know


Russia?s FSB Says Bomb Attack Plotter Killed in Blast During Arrest Attempt


Russia Extends Evan Gershkovich?s Pre-Trial Detention Ahead of Arrest Anniversary


Ukrainian Shelling of Russia's Belgorod Region Injures 5


Russian Rights Chief Says Torturing Concert Attack Suspects ?Inadmissible?


[Russia] - Putin Says 'Radical Islamists' Behind Moscow Concert Attack


Moscow Court Remands 3 More Suspects Over Concert Hall Attack


?Endless Wave of Violence?: Leading Russian Anti-Torture Activist on Concert Attack Suspects? Treatment


What Was Putin Doing During the Moscow Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - Siberian Teenagers Assaulted Over Unconventional Hairstyles


Jailed Kremlin Critic Kara-Murza's Wife Urges Prisoner Swaps


Kyrgyzstan Warns Citizens Against Travel to Russia After Concert Attack


[Russia] - Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv Wounds 9


Binance Crypto Firm?s Successor in Russia Announces Closure


[Russia] - Central Asian Teen Hailed for Saving Dozens from Moscow Auditorium Attack


'Kill Them All,' Ex-Russian President Medvedev Says of Concert Hall Gunmen


Kremlin Refuses to Comment on Islamic State Links to Moscow Attack


Russia?s FSB Thwarted Attack on Putin Campaign Office ? Mediazona


Russia Arrests Gold Mine Director After Collapse Traps Workers


7 Wounded in Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv


[Russia] - Russian Court Remands 4 Suspects Over Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - Russian Opposition Blasts Putin's Broken Security Promises After Moscow Attack


Day of Mourning in Russia as Toll From Concert Hall Massacre Climbs to 137


[Russia] - Kyiv Says 2 Russian Ships Hit in Crimea Strikes


[Russia] - Putin Allies Demand Return of Death Penalty After Moscow Attack


[Russia] - 'Terrorists Have No Nationality' Tajik President Tells Putin


Kyiv and Ukraine's Lviv Region Report 'Massive' Russian Attack, No Casualties


[Russia] - Russia Says It Shot Down Ukraine Missiles Fired at Crimea


Putin Wants To Blame Ukraine for Moscow Attack ? Zelensky


?It Could Have Been Me?: Russians Mourn Victims of Deadly Concert Hall Attack


Russian State Media Release Interrogation Videos of Concert Attack Suspects


Spacecraft Carrying First Belarus Woman Cosmonaut Lifts Off


[Russia] - Moscow Concert Attack: What We Know


[Russia] - Russian Army Claims Seized Ukrainian Village Near Bakhmut


Putin Vows Retribution for 'Barbaric' Moscow Attack


Russia Arrests Concert Hall Gunmen as Death Toll Rises


World Leaders Condemn Russian Concert Hall Attack


[Russia] - One Dead, Oil Refinery on Fire After Drone Attacks in Russia


[Russia] - At Least 60 Killed, 145 Injured in Mass Shooting Outside Moscow


Islamic State Group Claims Russia Gun Attack


[Russia] - Timeline of Attacks in Moscow Since 1999


U.S. Says No Sign of Ukraine Role in ?Terrible? Moscow Attack


[Russia] - Russia Jails Man 23 Years Over 'Railway Explosion' Plot


Russian Rescuers Hope to Reach Trapped Miners ?In Coming Days?


Russia Adds ?LGBT Movement? to ?Terrorists and Extremists? List


Russia's Central Bank Keeps Rates at 16% Amid Stubborn Inflation


[Russia] - Kremlin Planning New Mobilization for Kharkiv Offensive-- Vyorstka


[Russia] - Russia's FSB Says Detained 7 Pro-Ukraine Partisans in Moscow


[Russia] - Kremlin Says Russia in a 'State of War'


[Russia] - Russian Navy Fired on Civilian Fishing Trawler, Killing Sailors-- Dozhd


Woman Killed in Ukrainian Strike on Russia's Belgorod


Russia Attacks Ukraine With Deadly Barrage, Zelensky Appeals for Aid


[Russia] - Siberia's Krasnoyarsk to Shutter Prisons After Inmates Sent to Fight in Ukraine


Russia Sentences ?Volga Maniac? Serial Killer to Life in Prison


[Russia] - Russia Aborts Spacecraft Launch Seconds Before Liftoff





66