The Ukraine war is very material-intensive.
For this reason, Russia apparently uses some of the equipment that is ready for a museum.
Moscow - Again and again there are reports of poor equipment in the Russian army.
The age of the weapons also repeatedly brings ridicule to Vladimir Putin's troops.
The reports range from "ancient tanks from the Soviet era" to emptying stocks of museum weapons.
In the meantime, the losses on the side of Russia are said to be so high that a qualitatively comparable replacement can no longer be delivered, as the Dutch open source website
Oryx
writes.
Run by former members of the investigative research network Bellingcat
, the site
specializes in defense analysis.
At the end of March, Oryx published a new piece of research, which provocatively lists "Russian army equipment used in Ukraine that is older than our parents".
Russia on the battlefield: spade model from 1869 in the Ukraine War
The list of antiquated material includes “ship guns from the 1950s mounted on armored personnel carriers” or antiquated bolt-action rifles.
All equipment listed is said to have been commissioned before 1970.
Oryx
created the collection based on video and photo footage from the embattled Ukraine.
+
Russia in the Ukraine: some weapons would make antique collectors happy in Germany.
© Screenshots by Oryx
The oldest piece in the listing is the MPL-50 type spade.
It was developed by a Danish officer in 1869.
Western country troops typically use folding spade systems.
For example, the current model of the Austrian army was presented in 1983.
In 1990, the Bundeswehr's folding spade was last renewed with a camouflage pattern.
War in Ukraine: Russia apparently goes into battle with a collector's item
According to Oryx
, another relic from the stock of the Russian army sighted in Ukraine is
the Mosin Nagant 1891 / 30. This is a bolt-action rifle that is more likely to be found on the collector's market than in army use in Central Europe.
In today's war, you're likely to be far inferior to automatic Kalashnikovs, G-36s or M-16s with a bolt-action rifle that has to be manually reloaded after each shot.
But even among the vehicles, there are true vintage vehicles used by the Russian army at the front in Ukraine, as the
Oryx
list shows.
For example, a towed D-1 152mm howitzer is listed.
It is said to date from 1943.
Tanks from another time: War paraphernalia date back to the communist era
Russia has been producing T-55 tanks since 1958, followed later by the T-62, T-64, T-72 and T-80 models.
The T-55 was considered the standard tank of the Soviet Union and its allies in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to
Oryx
, even the predecessor of this model, the T-54-3 from 1951, was sighted in Ukraine.
"Even an outdated tank is more useful than no tank at all," wrote the
conflict intelligence team
.
The source referenced by Oryx goes on to say the tanks lack range finders, ballistic computers and fire control systems.
In addition, they only had primitive sights and an inferior weapon stabilization system.
No comparison to the types of tanks that the West is supplying to Ukraine.
Leopard tanks, for example, offer a "clear advantage for Ukraine on the battlefield," military expert Andy Milburn
told
FR.de.
Nevertheless, it is of course important to note: The listing of
Oryx
focuses on the oldest known materials of the Russian army.
But it also has new technology and equipment.
(Lucas Maier)
Rubric list image: © Screenshots by Oryx
