Russia Mocked for Rolling Out T-54 Tanks From 1940s: 'What Next, Horses?'

Footage of antiquated Soviet tanks reportedly being transported across Russia has raised questions about the equipment losses suffered by Moscow's forces in Ukraine.

The open-source Conflict Intelligence Team has reported that Russian battlefield losses are so high Moscow is using seven-decade-old armored vehicles to make up the shortfall.

The Tbilisi-based research group shared undated video it said showed T-54 and T-55 tanks being taken westwards by train from the town of Arsenyev in Russia's far eastern Primorsky Krai region.

Production of the T-54 began in 1946 when Joseph Stalin was in power and by the end of the 1950s it had become the main battle tank for armored units of the Soviet army.

Social media users speculated about the significance of the footage and whether the tanks would be used on the front line.

Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted that the dispatch of the tanks showed "the Kremlin determination to continue the war more or less for ever," as well as showing how Russian stocks of modern arms "have been seriously depleted."

Twitter user Denys Davydov wrote: "Even T-62 is a Super modern tank compared to this… What next? T-34? Horses?" The T-34 is a World War II-era Soviet tank.

Another Twitter user highlighted the difference between the modern Western arms being supplied to Kyiv and the old Soviet stock.

"We're gonna get Leopard 1 and AMX-10RC engaging T-55 and T-62 What year is this?" wrote Salty French Boi.

However, one user called "Russia Victory is Inevitable" tweeted that Moscow has a huge stockpile of 100 mm shells, "so why not make a good use of it rather then letting it gather dust?"

The user wrote that the tanks would not be used in combat action, but as artillery support for combat units, to guard checkpoints and as decoys to draw enemy strikes.

"But still Ukrainians going wild with the "RuSsiA hAs nO mOrE TaNkS," they added.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, around 1,871 Russian tanks have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured according to the open-source tracker Oryx.

Glen Grant, a senior defense expert at the Baltic Security Foundation, told Newsweek that even old tanks would be useful for Russia's forces. "If you are in a built-up area, it is still a tank with a big gun and it still has got to be beaten. The round from that gun will take out the sides of buildings.

"If they scatter them liberally or put them in groups of 10 or 15, it means you have to have something to counter it."

He added that even if the troops manning the tanks "will be killed easily—because it is a tank with not much armor—it is still a heavy weapon."

The Institute for the Study of War said on Wednesday that the Russian military might be resorting to Soviet-era tanks to solve its armored vehicle shortage and "because parts to repair the T-54/55 tanks are abundantly available and substantially cheaper."

T-54/55 tanks do not have the capabilities of more modern armored equipment, the institute pointed out. "The Russian military will likely experience greater numbers of casualties by fielding these older tank systems in Ukraine," it said.

Newsweek has emailed the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Update 03/23/23 11: 35 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comments from Glen Grant of the Baltic Security Foundation.