Is Russia running out of tanks? Now “Chinese coffins” are being used: is Russia running out of tanks? Now ‘Chinese coffins’ are used

The war in Ukraine has now lasted more than two years – and is increasingly developing into a so-called ‘war of attrition’.

Even though there are hardly any reliable and independent figures available, it can still be said: the losses (in material and people) are great on both sides. And the reserves appear to be exhausted. Ukraine has been out of ammunition for months and Russia now appears to be running out of armored personnel carriers. Why these strange, golf cart-like vehicles are used:

Russia is said to have purchased 2,000 of these ‘Desertcross 1000-3’ vehicles from the Chinese company Shandong Odes Industry. The vehicle is cheap, costing about R16,000 per unit – much less than an armored personnel carrier.

But that also has its price (of a different kind) – and the soldiers pay it. The “Desertcross” offers little protection, neither against mines, nor against gunfire, nor against FPV drone attacks. Nevertheless, as the video shows, progress is being made in places where armored personnel carriers have already been destroyed. The video shows up to eight people being transported in the small vehicles, which have no protection in the event of an attack. That is why the vehicle has already been nicknamed “Chinese coffin”.

Tank hulls from the 1950s

Military bloggers recently observed another Russian stopgap in Avdiivka. The Frankfurter Zeitung reports that Russia would remove the turrets from old tanks from the 1950s and 1960s. The open tanks of the tanks are then used as transporters.

Here too, the soldiers are only insufficiently protected; the hole provides ample attack surface for drones. The disassembly will also likely be difficult for the Russian soldiers.

Huge losses, but the war economy is flourishing

It can be assumed that due to the large material losses, the Russian army will have to resort to the “Desert Cross” (and therefore risk even greater losses of soldiers). According to reports, Russia has lost up to 3,500 armored vehicles in the past two months alone. Despite this, the country still has more equipment than Ukraine, Forbes writes. Russia is expected to produce more than 100 main battle tanks per month, according to a British intelligence estimate. In the West it is now expected that Russia will produce more than two million artillery shells in 2024, according to Stern. That would be twice as much as previously thought. (lso)

More videos from the conflict in Ukraine:

New video shows how many Ukrainian naval drones overwhelm the Russians

Ukraine destroys the next Russian ship of the Black Sea Fleet – these are the videos

Ukraine is likely to lose its first US Abrams tank and another top Western weapons system