During the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Russia has lost a large number of tanks. So much so that with the end of the war, Vladimir Putin’s forces were forced to adopt desperate measures to deal with this situation. For example, he saved the T-72 Ural after having it abandoned in warehouses or the T-62, a tank that entered service half a century ago. Now, and due to lack of material, a Russian film studio donated its combat vehicles to them.
It was recently learned that Mosfilm, a Russian film company, donated 50 units of military vehicles and tanks to the Russian Armed Forcesas reported by the media Military. An announcement which was made by the company’s general director, Karen Shajnazarov, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
Shakhnazarov noted that “in 2023 we will deliver 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 tanks, 6 infantry fighting vehicles and 8 trucks that we had the Armed Forces in our military department. I knew they needed them, so I contacted the Department of Defense and they accepted these vehicles. » Tanks and armored vehicles that were part of a collection of nearly 200 vehicles that Molsfilm had on hand.
A T-55 tank at the Mosfilm facilities.
Omicrono
These vehicles, stored at Mosfilm’s facilities in Krasnoznamensk, near Moscow, had already been used as props for film productions, television series and as tourist attractions. “All the equipment is props (scene-site media), they are in good condition and ready to shoot several films at the same time,” indicates the studio on its website.
Mosfilm also adds that it “provides its own locations for filming films with the participation of military equipment, on the territory of the military-technical base itself, as well as in the adjacent forest belt.” Among its collection of armored vehicles, the Russian film studio included T-54/55 and PT-76. This donation is part of a broader Russian effort to use old military equipment to fill gaps in your forces.
Actually, To date, Putin’s forces have lost at least 3,549 tanks.according to the Dutch open source monitoring group Oryx. A figure that includes 2,484 destroyed, 158 damaged, 374 abandoned and 533 captured. Although the total number of vehicles in combat is even greater, since the company only counts losses for which it has visual confirmation.
T-55 tanks are not suitable for direct combat, but their 100mm cannons could be useful for attacking lighter enemies and fortified strongpoints, as well as enemy troops trapped in open country. They were also used as remote-controlled bombs, loaded with explosives.
Even in the case of Mosfilm models, they can be used as spares or as decoys. For their part, the PT-76s have a wide hull and jet propulsion which allows them to maneuver well in the water, but they have weak armor protection and an underpowered 76mm cannon.
