Russia has depleted its tank stocks: the industry is not covering combat losses

Based on an analysis of satellite images of storage bases and repair plants, the researchers concluded that the rate of Russian tank restoration has dropped by 3.5-4 times compared to 2022. This is no longer enough to compensate for losses on the battlefield.

Researchers from the Resurgam and Vishun_military platforms reported on this.

According to the researchers’ estimates, as of February 2025, 2069 tanks of various types were withdrawn from Russian open storage bases. Up to 2000 tanks were still in closed storage hangars and were the first to be recommissioned. The lack of new activity near the hangars on satellite imagery confirms this.

In total, between 2022 and 2025, Russia decommissioned more than 4,000 tanks that were in the best technical condition. This is estimated to be 54% of all vehicles suitable for restoration. This has led to a significant slowdown in the pace of withdrawal from bases. While in 2022-2023, thousands of units were removed annually, only 342 tanks were removed from storage between February 2024 and February 2025.

As of the beginning of 2025, 3,463 tanks remain at the main storage bases. This indicates the exhaustion of easily restorable vehicles, as factories need more and more time to repair them. Another 1,253 tanks are stored at armored vehicle plants. At the same time, the number of tanks in the plants’ sumps has begun to decline, indicating that the rate of depreservation of vehicles at storage bases has fallen below the rate of repair of depreserved vehicles.

According to the researchers, even though there are still about 4,700 tanks in storage, most of them will be difficult to restore due to their poor technical condition. Therefore, it is likely that a significant number of them will serve as donors of spare parts. In addition, of the total number of tanks at the storage bases, 650 are T-64s, which were not produced or restored in Russia and, therefore, are unlikely to be returned to service in large numbers.

Also, for the first time since the observations, it was recorded that “burial grounds” for equipment have started to be dismantled at storage bases, confirming the depletion of stocks of combat-ready vehicles. According to researchers, only about 1,200 tanks can still be relatively easily restored after major repairs.

The pace of restoration

According to the researchers’ analysis, the approximate tank restoration/manufacturing rate in 2022 was up to 120 units per month. By the end of 2023, the rate dropped to 90 units. During 2024, the production and restoration of tanks ranged from 44-75 units per month. However, by the end of the year, it dropped to 50 units per month. This no longer covered the losses of the Russian army.

In early 2025, the production rate dropped even further to 30-35 tanks per month. It is expected to drop even further in the second half of the year due to a lack of T-80s suitable for refurbishment.

According to the British International Institute for Strategic Studies, between 2022 and 2024, Russia produced only 164 T-90M tanks, or about 80 per year. This is an extremely low figure that does not allow for compensation for losses.

This led to the Russians’ massive use of civilian vehicles for assaults. According to the General Staff of Ukraine, the number of destroyed vehicles increased from 1,000 per month in mid-2024 to 3,000 at the end of the year. This is due to the development of Ukrainian drones and a decrease in the number of Russian armored vehicles.

At the same time, losses of tanks have started to decline as they are less often involved in assaults. While in September-November 2024, 300-400 tanks were destroyed per month, in December 2024-January 2025, this figure dropped to 200-240 units.