A video began to spread on social networks, in which you can see that during one of the assaults in the area of the village of Novomykhailivka in the Maryinka direction in February 2024, the russian occupiers used, among other equipment, a T-54 tank equipped with Kontakt-1 ERA ‘bricks’, as well as the fact that as a result this tank was destroyed by the Ukrainian military.
This is the first recorded case of the russians starting to install Kontakt-1 ERA on T-54/55 tanks. This may reflect a general trend visible on the battlefield recently, which indicates that the russians began to use these old vehicles for their intended purpose - for "frontal attack" and support for assault operations. It was previously noted that due to poor armor protection, these vehicles were used more in the role of a kind of "self-propelled artillery installations" - for firing from closed firing positions.
Read more: 745 Days of russia-Ukraine War – russian Casualties In Ukraine
Russian T-54B destroyed during Russian attack on Novomykhailivka. This is the forth visually documented T-54/55 loss since the beginning of February 2024.https://t.co/gHAHEh9CAu https://t.co/N6uVdvVC84 pic.twitter.com/WH9jOxd425— Special Kherson Cat (@bayraktar_1love) March 6, 2024
It is interesting that until this moment the analysts of Oryx managed to count only up to 10 destroyed T-54/55 tanks, which appeared at the disposal of the russian invading forces no later than April 2023.
At this time, there is no generalized data on how many T-54/55 tanks the russian federation has already been able to remove from conservation and put into service. We can only cite an estimate from the authoritative IISS that last year the Russians received a total of 1.18 thousand to 1.8 thousand tanks of various versions.
In addition, we can recall at the same time that in September 2023 there were reports that the russian 1430th motorized rifle regiment received the T-54 tanks to be used like a "guns on tracks".
As Defense Express reported, The russians Additionally Armored Their ‘Most Modern’ T-90M Proryv Tanks in an Artisanal Way Fearing Ukrainian ATGM, Drones (Video).
Read more: Skilled Ukrainian Tank Crews Showcase Operation of Rare Slovenian M-55S (Photo)
