Newly Modified Russian Tanks Arrive Near Ukrainian Border
New video shows modified T-72B3 tanks in southwestern Russia
Newly Modified Russian Tanks Arrive Near Ukrainian Border
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![Newly Modified Russian Tanks Arrive Near Ukrainian Border](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2017/03/1XgKMkMqpW3gq7ujAtLoH-A.jpeg)
BANNER: Source: Reuters. Russian tanks at the Pokrovskoye railway station.
On March 24, Reuters published a video reportedly shot “at a railroad station in Pokrovskoye” in Russia’s Rostov Oblast. In the video, we can see about a dozen pieces of military equipment, including T-72B3 tanks, arriving by rail, along with Russian soldiers unloading transported materials.
Where were the tanks unloaded?
We can confirm the location of the video as Pokrovskoye by cross-referencing the buildings in the video and visible characteristics on satellite imagery via Google Earth.
At one point in the video, a tank with the number 515 is hauled by a truck, with a grocery store with a red roof, a structure with an angular roof, and a grain elevator in the background. Near the railway in Pokrovskoye, we can find the same landmarks on Google Earth:
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-619-1280x720.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-620.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-621.png)
After the tank passes the person filming, the camera continues to track the tank. In the distance, we can observe a few white fuel tanks. After finding these fuel tanks on satellite imagery, we can deduce that the tanks were headed southeast from the rail yard.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-622.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-623.png)
Taken together, we can map out the path of where tank 515 was unloaded from the railway, loaded onto a truck, and then driven southeast away from Pokrovskoye.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-624.png)
This is far from the first time that the railway station at Pokrovskoye has been used to transport military equipment near the Ukrainian border. A comparison of the site in publicly accessible satellite images on Google Earth shows the frequent activity at the site in 2014 and 2015.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/1_3M8-qRvXV9w1S5hXUnkoeQ.gif)
What equipment was filmed?
About a dozen pieces of military equipment were filmed in the short Reuters video, including T-72B3 tanks and an MT-LBu (multi-purpose tracked vehicle).
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-625.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-626.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-627.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-628.png)
An interesting feature of some of these T-72B3 tanks is that they have upgraded side plating, possibly from the newer Russian T-90 tanks. Also on March 24, Russian news agency TASS reported that the Tamanskaya motorized infantry division (military unit 23626) received twenty modernized T-72B3 tanks with modified armor plates — perhaps the same type observed in the Reuters video. Additionally, the black, rubber side skirt was modified, reaching much lower than with other T-72B3 tanks.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-629.png)
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-630.png)
For comparison, previously observed modified T-72B3 armor may only include three separate plates, as seen in this photograph from 2014.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-631.png)
Or they may not have any added plates at all, as seen in this Victory Day parade in 2014.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-632.png)
Bellingcat’s Veli-Pekka Kivimäki noted that these T-72B3 tanks from the Reuters video had Relikt ERA panels added to the side.
That's Relikt ERA panels on T-72B3, a development which was mentioned in my @bellingcat article: https://t.co/adntzdElso (h/t @ain92ru) https://t.co/NHs4y8QgJa
— Veli-Pekka Kivimäki (@vpkivimaki) March 24, 2017
He also noted that the side armor is similar to that previously seen installed on the T-90SM tank.
.@akihheikkinen Looks quite similar to what's installed on the T-90SM. pic.twitter.com/syJLhdknTL
— Veli-Pekka Kivimäki (@vpkivimaki) March 24, 2017
For more information on the T-72B3 tank and how to identify them, see Veli-Pekka Kivimäki’s guide “Tankspotting: How to Identify the T-72B3.”
Where are these tanks headed?
Most likely, they were heading for the Kuzminsky firing range, a massive Russian base about twenty-five kilometers east of Pokrovskoye.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-633.png)
For context, the Pokrovskoye railway station is about thirty-five kilometers from the Ukrainian border, while the Kuzminsky base is about forty-five kilometers away from the border.
![](https://dfrlab.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/04/image-634.png)
A major influx of soldiers from the Southern Military District has been observed at the Kuzminsky base, as detailed in last week’s DFRLab Minsk Monitor piece “Geolocated: Russian Military Convoys Near Ukrainian Border.” We will continue to monitor Russian military deployments near the Ukrainian border.