Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has been rapidly depleting its Soviet-era armored vehicle stockpiles , but recently the situation has reversed. Now, the latest tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are being sent not to the front, but to storage bases. This is according to open data analyst Covert Cabal , who specializes in analyzing satellite imagery of Russian military bases.
According to the expert, the changes are particularly noticeable at the 22nd Central Storage Base in the town of Buy in the Kostroma Region, several hundred kilometers north of Moscow. A satellite image from October 4 revealed dozens of armored vehicles, although the main storage area had previously been empty.
"We suddenly noticed a sharp reversal of this trend in one of the warehouses," the author notes. According to him, at the start of the full-scale war, the base had over 760 tanks, but that number subsequently dropped to 102. All the remaining vehicles were old and stored in the maintenance area. Now the warehouse is being refilled, with modern equipment.
Specifically, the analyst identified 57 T-90M tanks in the images, which had not previously been at the base. He estimates the accuracy of this identification at approximately 90% due to the limited resolution of satellite imagery. Furthermore, a significant number of BTR-82A and BMP-3M armored vehicles, as well as trucks, appeared there.
The author also suggests that Russia could centralize the storage of military equipment by evacuating some of its bases in the west of the country that are within range of Ukrainian drones. Covert Cabal believes the main reason for stockpiling the latest vehicles is the Russian army's de facto refusal to use them in the war with Ukraine due to the proliferation of drones on the battlefield. The threat they pose has made tanks less effective, and using the most modern models without proper protection can lead to significant losses.
In his opinion, Russia continues to produce armored vehicles and stockpile them in anticipation of the emergence of solutions that will allow it to more effectively counter drones.
Source: Kanal13
