Russia removes up to 40% of its tank reserves – ISW
Photo: Assault Troops Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Russia has probably already moved between 25 and 40% of its strategic tank reserves, depending on the model, out of open-air storage facilities.
The "production" of Russian tanks consists mostly of restoration and modernization, ISW report says.
Analysts cite satellite images from open sources and came to the following conclusion.
The Institute cites the analysis of Dara Massicotte, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Russia and Eurasia program, who believes that Russia has most likely removed the best equipment from the strategic reserve.
Massicotte also estimated that "Russian stockpile balances will decline over the next few years" if Russia maintains its current pace of operations.
ISW noted that it could not independently verify this report.
Military analysts have noted that reports on the "production" of Russian tanks in recent years mostly reflect restored and modernized tanks taken from storage facilities, not new production.
Russian military is mostly using equipment from storage facilities to sustain combat operations rather than to compensate for losses on the battlefield through new production.
Russia could face a shortage of equipment in the next few years if the current rate of losses remains the same or accelerates, and the current level of new vehicle production remains unchanged.
For almost 745 days of the war, Ukrainian troops has "demilitarized" thousands of armored vehicles, automobiles and aircraft of the Russian troops, in particular, the occupiers have already lost about 6,731 tanks.
