Putin's Military Resorts to Using 1950s-Era Armored Vehicles Amid Shortage

Russian President Vladimir Putin's military appears to be resorting to 1950s-era armored vehicles amid a shortage of modern equipment as its nearly 20-month war against Ukraine continues.

An image of a destroyed BTR-50 armored personnel carrier purportedly used in Russia's ongoing attempt to capture the Donetsk region city of Avdiivka was shared over the weekend by the Ukraine Weapons Tracker account on X, formerly Twitter. The BTR-50 entered production in the Soviet Union in 1954 and ceased in 1970.

The photo, which has not been independently verified by Newsweek, also features what appear to be blurred-out bodies, presumably of deceased Russian soldiers, scattered alongside the vehicle. Another damaged Soviet-era military vehicle, a T-64BV tank, is shown next to the BTR-50.

The BTR-50 appears to be overturned with a large hole having pierced its underside, an indication that it may have hit a land mine, according to the Kyiv Post. The vehicle model is particularly vulnerable to damage from mines and anti-tank weapons due to an absence of safety features present on more modern versions.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Russian Ministry of Defense via email on Tuesday.

Using equipment manufactured as far back as the 1950s may be a sign of desperation for the Russian military, which reportedly continues to suffer major equipment losses as the war continues in Ukraine and a shortage of vital components like ball bearings at home makes the production of modern replacements increasingly difficult.

On Sunday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claimed that Russia had lost 239 armored personnel vehicles and 127 tanks during the previous week. Ukraine claims that Moscow has lost at least 4,948 tanks, 9,362 armored personnel vehicles and a minimum of 287,700 troops since the war began on February 24, 2022.

The Russian attempt to take control of Avdiivka appears to be losing steam after only one week, according to a recent assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank.

During the first 48 hours of the offensive, which began October 10, Russia had already purportedly lost a "battalion's worth" of military vehicles.

The ongoing assault is "likely to be the most significant offensive operation undertaken by Russia since at least January 2023," according to a Tuesday intelligence assessment by the British Ministry of Defense (MoD).

"The town is a major obstacle in preventing Russian forces from their wider objective of taking control of Donetsk Oblast," the ministry said.

The MoD added, however, that Moscow taking control of the city looks "increasingly unlikely in the short term," due to it being "heavily defended" by Ukrainian forces and Russia "sustaining heavy equipment and personnel losses."

The British defense ministry first reported that Russia had deployed BTR-50s in Ukraine and other Soviet-era equipment due to "heavy armored vehicle losses" in March.