Russia refits old tanks after losing 3,000 in Ukraine war, IISS report says
- Russia is mainly replacing lost tanks with refitted spares; Ukraine facing major manpower and equipment challenges
- Think tank sees no early end to military stalemate as deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II grinds into its third year
Russia has lost more than 3,000 tanks in Ukraine – the equivalent of its entire pre-war active inventory – but has enough lower-quality armoured vehicles in storage for years of replacements, a leading research centre said.
Ukraine has also suffered heavy loses since Russia invaded in February 2022, but Western military replenishments have allowed it to maintain inventories while upgrading quality, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said.
Even after the loss of so many tanks – including an estimated 1,120 in the past year – Russia still has about twice as many available for combat as Ukraine, according to the IISS’s annual Military Balance, a key research tool for defence analysts.
Henry Boyd, the institute’s senior fellow for military capability, said Russia had been roughly “breaking even” in terms of replacements. He estimated that it had put around 1,000 to 1,500 more tanks into service in the past year.
But of these, he said, 200 at most were newly built, and the large majority were refurbished older models.