Russia directs T-55 tanks to Ukraine

14 April, 2023 T-55 tank. Photo from open sources The Russian invasion forces in Ukraine have begun to receive reactivated T-54 and T-55 tanks.

The footage featuring one of these tanks was made public by the Russians themselves. The video, which appeared on social networks, had probably been made by propagandists in the front-line zone at night, so the quality of the image does not allow for accurate identification of the tank modification and its details. The invaders claim that a T-54 or T-55 tank has been spotted on the territory of the temporarily occupied regions of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.

Russian T-54/T-55 tank, as stated, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine.

April 2023. Photo from social media

Currently, it is unknown whether these tanks take part in combat operations, or whether these are the first vehicles of this type to have just entered service with the Russian invasion forces after deconservation. The tanks, in particular, can be used to train crews before participating in combat operations first.

On March 22 this year, it became known that Russia was returning old Soviet tanks T-54 and T-55 from storage bases. Photos and videos of the echelon transporting Soviet-era medium tanks of the T-54/55 family from the Far East appeared on the web. It was the same echelon that transported both T-54 tanks and, presumably, T-54 or T-55.

According to the Conflict Intelligence Team (???), the echelon 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. T-54 and T-55 are perceived as two different models of tanks, but in fact they are part of the same line of Soviet combat vehicles.

The machines were constantly modernized and had changes in design, while conceptually remaining the same tank.

T-55 in echelon, Arsenyev, Primorsky Krai, March 2023. Photo credits: Conflict Intelligence Team

The Soviet T-54/T-55 can be distinguished from the T-62 tanks by the characteristic "gap" between the front first and second landing gear. Another characteristic feature is the muzzle compensator at the end of the barrel of the D-10T tank gun and the specific convex "cap" of the radiator on the roof of the turret.

The first T-54 was adopted by the Soviet army in the second half of the 1940s, and the T-55 in 1958.

After the collapse of the USSR, the tanks were in large numbers on the balance sheet of the Russian army and mostly concentrated in the Eastern Military District.

The last T-55 tanks were decommissioned only in 2010.