Russia has reportedly brought 50-year-old T-62 tanks out of storage for battlefield usage.
Russia is working on creating a third line of defense in order to protect their gains in southern Ukraine, which has seen them move troops, tanks, aircraft and naval units from Crimea towards the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian state media Ukrinform reported Friday, citing the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration as the invasion stretches into its 93rd day.
The report specifically outlined a large convoy that passed from Crimea through the city of Melitopol, which included trucks, artillery pieces and a battalion of T-62 tanks.
The 50-year-old T-62 tanks have likely been moved from deep storage into the responsibility of Russia’s Southern Grouping of Forces (SGF), who likely remain tasked with occupying southern Ukraine, according to a Friday UK defense intelligence update.
Using older tanks follows numerous prior intelligence reports stating that Russia has been running low on tanks, with manufacturing plants forced to shut down due to import restrictions and older Soviet-era tanks needing to be brought out.
Indeed, according to the UK defense intelligence update, using T-62s highlights Russia’s shortage of modern, combat-ready equipment.
Further, the defense intelligence report notes that these tanks will almost certainly be especially vulnerable to anti-tank weapons.
Advances in the East
Russian troops have also continued their operations in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, specifically working to surround the cities of Severdonetsk and Lyschansk. Though these attempts have yet to succeed Russia has managed to capture several villages northwest of Popasna, but Ukraine still controls multiple key areas to maintain footholds in Donbas, according to the UK intelligence update.
Later in the day, forces of the pro-Russian separatist-controlled breakaway in the Donbas region, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), announced they had fully taken control over the city if Krasnyi Lyman in Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast, RIA reported.
Russia’s consolidation of power in Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol
In addition, Russia is also attempting to consolidate its power in these occupied areas further through the use of television and radio broadcasting, Ukrinform reported. This is further reinforced by a report from the US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which stated that Russia dispatched three broadcast trucks to Mariupol, the Sea of Azov port city in the Donetsk Oblast that Russia finally seized, to transmit state-controlled programming.
Indeed, according to reports in Russia’s RIA news agency, there is a spike in demand in the parts of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast under Russian control for Russian citizenship.
Further, the pro-Russian authorities in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia have also offered to transfer Ukrainian military bases in the area, particularly along the Sea of Azov, over to Russia, RIA reported.
The Sea of Azov is now almost completely surrounded by Russia following their gains in the war with Ukraine. Traditionally, Ukraine bordered the body of water with Crimea and the Kherson, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Russia has controlled Crimea since 2014 and has already seized most of Kherson and huge swaths of Zaporizhzhia, particularly on the coast. Donetsk was heavily contested, particularly on the coast of the Sea of Azov, but Russian control has been further cemented following the capture of the port city of Mariupol.
According to the ISW, Russian troops are working to push to the Kherson-Mykolaiv border and attempted to assault around Tavriisk and Mykolaivka, though these were unsuccessful.
Casualties
Russia has continued to take heavy losses throughout the invasion of Ukraine.
As of Friday, according to figures presented by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia has so far lost 29,750 soldiers, 3,246 armored personnel vehicles, 206 aircraft, 170 helicopters, 115 cruise missiles, 503 drones, 623 artillery units, 201 MLRSs, 93 anti-aircraft systems, 1,322 tanks, 13 ships, 2,226 vehicles and fuel tanks and 48 pieces of special equipment.
However, throughout the invasion, 241 children in Ukraine have been killed and 438 injured, Interfax reported, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Regarding Ukraine’s own troops, they have also taken considerable losses.
According to Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Maj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov, since the beginning of the invasion – which Moscow exclusively refers to as a “special military operation” – Ukraine has lost 127 helicopters, 180 aircraft, 1,027 drones, 324 anti-aircraft systems, 438 MLRSs, 1,693 artillery and mortars, 3,281 tanks and other armored vehicles and 3,218 special military vehicles, RIA reported.
Further, over 5,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) being held in the DPR, TASS reported, citing DPR head Denis Pushilin.
However, the exact figures on both sides are suspect and nearly impossible to confirm independently.
This is a developing story.