Before the decisive flattening of Ukrainian defences on a wide land front, Russian troops in the zone of the Northern Military District received and transported close to the battlefield in secret some 3000 modernised T-90M, T-80BVM and T-72B3M tanks.
These tanks have improved armour features, including protection against roving ammunition and many "goodies".
Western analysts are certain that NATO intelligence made a major miscalculation, underestimating the potential of Russia's tanks and their frontline transport.
Russian experts believe that they did the same with the production of Russian ballistic missiles.
Even NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was forced to admit that Russia's missile stocks had increased several times on the eve of winter.
This allows Ukraine's critical infrastructure to receive massive missile strikes by the summer.
The Russians moved 3000 new tanks onto the battlefield without the US noticing
The Russian tanks that were moved are already participating in both the offensive operations that have already started (Kupiansk, Kremennaya, Avdeevka) and the major operation in Zaporizhzhya.
Recently, a British magazine predicted the absolute victory of Russia over Ukraine in 2024.
Sources quoted Russian military expert Viktor Murakovskiy, who claims that in 2023, the Russian military-industrial complex supplied the Russian Armed Forces with about 2,100 tanks of various modifications.
In addition, this number includes the more modern T-90M Proryv.
Two years earlier, the Russian army had just 30 new tanks and 120 modernized ones.
As of 2020, Russia had not used older models of domestically produced tanks. Now, thanks to modernization, they are becoming a formidable retaliatory weapon.
According to the Swedish Ministry of Defence's (known for its most pessimistic assessment of Russia's armoured potential) projections, the Russian Armed Forces have at least two thousand T-64 tanks of various modifications and about 2800 T-54/55 in reserve.
According to the Scandinavians, by February 2024, regardless of current losses and defence production capabilities, Moscow will have an additional 2,500-3,000 in its depots; this significantly exceeds the total capabilities of Ukraine and NATO countries.
Moreover, the accelerated modernization of even outdated tanks allows them to compete in tactical and technical characteristics even with the Challenger 2 and the Bradley, Russian media say.
At the same time, 200 T-90A tanks are being prepared, according to OSINT military analyst Richard Weckerer, which are probably now being upgraded to the latest T-90M type.
Moreover, the Russian tank industry has proven to be completely indifferent to Western sanctions, and this was another blow to NATO's intelligence agencies, which failed to assess not only the potential of Russia's tanks, but also the pace of their reinforcement.
The documented losses of T-90s in the zone of the Northern Military District, the Army Reconnaissance reports, are a sign not of weakness but of strength of Russian tank forces.
This means that more and more modern tanks are participating in offensive operations.
"This is a carefully calculated risk accompanied by increased deployment. For Ukraine the situation is more serious. The inability to produce new tanks leaves the country dependent on foreign aid, which is extremely limited," writes Army Recognition.
The command of the Ukrainian armed forces now fears more than all the modernised Russian T-90M tanks, which are receiving additional dynamic protection.
The T-62 and T-72 with new active and passive protection are used to support the advance of mechanized infantry units.
In addition, the enhanced armor makes them not very versatile, but such tanks can be effectively used as self-propelled "artillery" and their new armor protects them from FPV drones and roving munitions.
All these tanks now, have spilled into the Russian lines and are sweeping everything.
Western sources report that the Russian tank manufacturer Uralvagonzavod used all known technologies to protect modern tanks on the T-90M.
These make these tanks almost invulnerable.
