Russia seems to be in desperate straits. After its invasion of Ukraine didn’t succeed in two weeks, then two months, and now into its second year, its equipment reserves has deteriorated greatly. Military observers have pointed out this photo, posted earlier this week by on a Russian soldier’s media account, as an example. The photo depicts a Russian standing in front of a T-55 medium battle tank, a design first released in the late 1950s.
As Ukrainian forces start receiving modern battle tanks like the Abrams from the US or the Leopard II from Germany, Russian forces are deploying tanks that were used in the Israeli-Arab Six Day War in 1967. Reportedly, some of the tanks are being brought out of storage due to a lack of resolve to commit more T-90s to the invasion; Ukrainian forces have reported captured at least two T-90s.