Russian Film Studio Sends Antique Tanks Used As Props To Ukraine Front

A nice, well meaning gesture, but that they were accepted is probably not a great sign for a nation interested in projecting military power. JL

Howard Altman reports in The Drive Warzone:

Russia has lost so many tanks in Ukraine that the nation’s largest studio has donated movie props to bolster its armor force. In 2023, "we handed over 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 tanks, 6 infantry fighting vehicles and 8 trucks we had. I knew that they needed them." They are very old. The first prototype of the T-54/55s appeared in 1945 while the PT-76 amphibious tanks have been in service since 1952. So far, Russia has lost at least 3,549 tanks in Ukraine. 

Russia has lost so many tanks in Ukraine that the nation’s largest studio has donated movie props to bolster its armor force.

 

“… in 2023, we handed over 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 tanks, 6 infantry fighting vehicles and 8 trucks we had in our military department to the Armed Forces,” Mosfilm Director Gen. Karen Shakhnazarov told Vladimir Putin during a meeting at the Kremlin on Wednesday. “I knew that they needed them, so I got in touch with the Defense Ministry, and they took these vehicles.”

Mosfilm Director Gen. Karen Shakhnazarov (left) met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin Wednesday. (Kremlin)

The tanks and armor were part of a collection of nearly 200 Mosfilm had on hand, the studio states on its website.

“All equipment is a prop (stage-site-site means), is in good condition and is ready to shoot several films at the same time,” Mosfilm explained, adding it “provides its own sites for filming films with the participation of military equipment, on the territory of the military-technical base itself, as well as in the adjacent forest belt.”

Among its armor collection, the studio had T-54/55s and PT-76s. Examples of tanks like those can be seen in the following images.

Soviet T-55 tanks in front of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin on October 28, 1961 HUM Images

A Russian PT-76 light amphibious tank. (Alexander Kovalenko)

So far, Russia has lost at least 3,549 tanks, according to the Dutch Oryx open-source tracking group. That figure includes 2,484 destroyed, 158 damaged, 374 abandoned, and 533 captured. The total figure is higher because Oryx only tabulates losses for which it has visual confirmation.

 

The studio’s donation at best seems symbolic.

The small handful donated to the military represents a little more than 1% of Russian tank losses fighting Ukraine. Moreover, they are very old. The first prototype of the T-54/55s appeared in 1945 while the PT-76 amphibious tanks have been in service since 1952.

It is unclear exactly how Russia will use these tanks, but as we previously reported T-54/55s began appearing on the battlefield last year.

As we reported at the time, those tanks were seen – reportedly in southeastern Ukraine – about a month after trainloads of them were spotted on the move in Russia, prompting speculation that they would soon be taking part in the conflict. In March 2023, the Conflict Intelligence Team (СІТ) reported on Telegram that the tanks departed from the city of Arsenyev in the Primorsky Krai, which is home to the 1295th Central Base of Repairs and Storage of Tanks of the Russian Army.

You can see those tanks in the video below.

The T-54/55s have been used in combat, as we have noted in the past. When the tanks first appeared, we posited that they offered some added protection to their crews, especially against shrapnel from artillery shells and similar threats that are very pronounced on battlefields in Ukraine. Though unsuitable for direct tank-on-tank combat, their 100mm main guns could still be useful for engaging lighter enemy vehicles and fortified strong points, as well as just opposing troops caught in the open.\

 

They have also been used as remote-controlled bombs, packed with explosives. It is also possible that Mosfilm’s tanks could be used for spare parts or even as decoys. Russia has previously used inflatable tanks designed to confuse Ukrainian forces and get them to waste ammunition.

After the Cold War ended, Russia, like the U.S., drew down conventional forces. That included a large number of the more than 80,000 T-54/55s produced. They were placed in storage, mainly in the Far East, since they had already been displaced by more modern tanks in the military districts closer to NATO’s own tank forces. 

Far fewer of the PT-76s were made, with about 12,000 produced. While able to maneuver well in the water with its wide hull and water jet propulsion, it had some serious deficiencies, like a large silhouette, weak armor protection, and an underpowered 76 mm gun. Russia has replaced them with newer amphibious armor vehicles.

Still, the PT-76s were sent into service to fight Ukraine in June 2022, according to a well-known Ukrainian military observer.

“It remained in service with the Russian army until 2010, after which all remaining PT-76s were sent into storage with subsequent, in the future, disposal,” Alexander Kovalenko wrote on Facebook at the time. “But in 2022, the tank received a second life, after the ‘second’ army in the world decided to start a small victorious war for a week.”

 

However, unlike the T-54/55s, we have seen no videos of large movements of the amphibious light tank to the front or in combat. According to Oryx, none have yet been lost on the battlefield. CIT, however, stated a variant of that tank – the BTR-50 tracked armored personnel carrier – was also pulled from Russian storage in March 2023. They began to emerge on the battlefield that month, we noted at the time.

“We find it difficult to name the possible areas of application of these tanks, but in any case, along with the removal of the BTR-50 from storage and the installation of naval anti-aircraft guns on the MT-LB, this clearly indicates serious problems with providing the Russian Armed Forces with armored vehicles,” CIT suggested at the time.

Mosfilm, which has made more than 2,500 full-length films, has won some prestigious awards over the years, including three Oscars. However, its highest praise in Russia may have come today.

“Mosfilm is our pride,” Putin glowed.