Vladimir Putin’s troops are now using Soviet-era equipment after enduring significant losses on the battlefield, according to the UK.
Russia is pushing forward into Ukraine at its fastest rate of the war so far, and now controls around a fifth of the beleaguered country – but it seems these offensives come with a high attrition rate for Moscow.
The latest update from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on X explained: “Russian military equipment losses in Ukraine continue to increase.
“Russia has lost over 3,600 main battle tanks and nearly 8,000 armoured vehicles since February 2022.”
The UK intelligence officers said this meant Moscow are having to rely on equipment which is more than three decades old.
“This has led to a reliance on outdated and poorly maintained Soviet-era equipment from strategic storage depots,” the MoD said.
“Armoured equipment is being hauled out of storage, upgraded where possible and sent to the frontline.
“Imagery has confirmed a large reduction of stored armoured vehicles at tank storage bases at Arsenyev, Buy and Ulan-Ude since 2022.”
Putin has not only lost equipment through his Ukraine land-grab, though.
Estimates suggest Russia has suffered more than 700,000 casualties since Putin started the war in February 2022 and started to engage in “meat grinder” tactics.
The Russian president is now leaning on troops from North Korea to bolster his army ranks, although Moscow has not officially confirmed this.
Ukraine claims that at least 30 North Korean soldiers have recently been wounded or killed in the Russian region of Kursk, which Ukrainian troops is currently occupying.
It comes after Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence Forces, was killed in a bomb attack in Moscow.
Reports say Ukraine has taken responsibility for the death, calling him a war criminal and a “legitimate target”.
But, in a statement on Telegram, the representative for the Russian foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, praised Kirillov.
She said he had worked “systematically exposing the crimes of Anglo-Saxons for many years”.
She said: “He worked fearlessly. He did not hide behind people’s backs.
“He met problems head on. For the Motherland, for the truth. Bright be his memory, may he rest in peace.”