Not enough to tip the scales on the front when we know the frightening loss rates of the Russian army, in soldiers and vehicles.
Mosfilm is the largest film production company in Russia to whom we owe masterpieces such as The Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein (1925) but also propaganda films, often with a military theme.
Films which often required real military vehicles. This allowed Mosfilm to accumulate a significant number of tanks, armored vehicles and other army trucks as accessories. Vehicles, most of them old, which will now return to the hands of the military. “In 2023, we handed over to the armed forces 28 T-55 tanks, 8 PT-76 armored vehicles, six infantry fighting vehicles and eight trucks that we had in our military department”revealed Karen Shakhnazarov, the director of Mosfilm, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin this Wednesday.
As I already mentioned, “Mosfilm” — (Hollywood, Russian-style) — sent 1950s-era armored vehicles, which had been stored at the film studio’s warehouse, to the war.
The video features examples of this equipment from the movie “Strict Masculine Life” (1977).
Be sure to watch until… https://t.co/dAPDwJl7mE pic.twitter.com/V52wV2x3Zk— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1857779535141323218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
ud83eudd2aRussian FILM STUDIO Mosfilm transferred 28 T-55 tanks, eight PT-76 tanks, and six BMPs to the Russian Armed Forces in 2023, as the studio head reported directly to Putin. “I learned there was a need, so I contacted the Ministry of Defense—they took these vehicles,” he said.… pic.twitter.com/7ZnqOMbziD
— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1856828402747195776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Used for their spare parts, as lures or trapped rams
Not enough to tip the scales on the forehead when you know THE frightening loss rates of the Russian armyin soldiers and vehicles. According to the open source analysis site Oryx, it lost at least 3,558 tanksnot counting other vehicles, since the start of the war. Moreover, as recalled The War Zone, these tanks and armored vehicles, although“in good condition”are very old. “The first prototype of the T-54/55 appeared in 1945, while the PT-76 amphibious tanks have been in service since 1952.”specifies the specialized site.
If their condition is not sufficient, Mosfilm's tanks could simply be dismantled to recover the spare parts or even be used as lures in order to cause a waste of ammunition in the opposing camp. They could also end their careers as trapped ram. The Russians would occasionally use old tanks, stuffed with explosives, as real land missiles to destroy fortifications.
