Also, there are more of them and thus a greater chance a few battalions’ worth of T-62s escaped catastrophic rust. Some T-62s are usable because they’re simpler than more modern types are, with fewer delicate electronics. That the Russians are reactivating T-62s lends credence to what historian Chris Owen explained in a recent Tweet thread: that many, if not most, of the roughly 10,000 tanks in storage in Russia no longer are in any kind of working condition owing to the ravages of weather and time. Old T-62s indeed are making their way via train to the railhead in Russian-occupied Melitopol in southern Ukraine. This week videos and photos circulated on social media confirming the Ukrainian general staff’s claim. Factor in battle damage to many hundreds of T-64s, T-72s, T-80s and T-90s and it’s obvious why the Ukrainians began observing T-62s arriving near the front lines. But not all of the active tanks were in good repair. That might not seem like a lot for an army that, on paper, possessed more than 2,800 active tanks before the Feb. In 91 days of fighting, the Ukrainians have knocked out 391 tanks that outside analysts can confirm. And now the Ukrainian army is destroying, on average, at least four Russian tanks a day-and damaging or capturing others. Had Russian President Vladimir Putin chosen not to widen his war in Ukraine, those tanks might’ve simply rusted away.īut Putin did widen the war. Thousands of T-62s went into storage, many of them simply lying in rows in sprawling outdoor vehicle parks, where there is no protection from rain and snow.
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