Russia has sustained its offensive operations in Ukraine largely by tapping into Soviet-era stores of armored vehicles, but this finite resource is now nearing depletion.
That is according to the latest report from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrinform reports.
ISW analysts, citing satellite imagery, report that most armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) withdrawn from Russian storage facilities are no longer combat-ready without refurbishment, unlike the early days of the invasion when many could be sent straight to the front.
According to ISW estimates, the 81st Armored Repair Plant (BTRZ) in Armavir, Krasnodar Krai, which repairs and upgrades BTR-70/80 armored personnel carriers, and likely also refurbishes damaged BTRs from the battlefield, has been restoring up to 200 BTR-70/80/82 vehicles annually since 2023.
The 144th Armored Repair Plant in Yekaterinburg — the only facility refurbishing older BMPs (and BMDs) — is believed to restore between 100 and 150 BMP-2s and BTR-Ds each year, although it is unclear when this effort began.
“Russia has maintained its offensive operations throughout the war by tapping into its Soviet-era stocks of armored vehicles to compensate for high loss rates, but this resource is finite and approaching a point of diminishing availability. Russian forces have been increasingly using motorcycles and buggies in place of armored vehicles along the frontline in Ukraine due to high Russian vehicle losses in late 2023 and 2024,” the report claims.
Analysts also referenced an assessment by the British International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which in February 2025 estimated that Russian forces lost over 3,700 BMP infantry fighting vehicles and BTR armored personnel carriers in 2024 alone. However, analysts note that it remains unclear whether Russia’s increasing use of motorcycles and buggies will be sufficient to compensate for these losses in the medium to long term.
As reported by Ukrinform, since the beginning of 2025, units of the National Guard of Ukraine have destroyed nearly 600 tanks, 903 armored vehicles, and 2,864 artillery systems of the Russian forces.
Photo credit: 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade
Source: Russia nearing exhaustion of Soviet-era armored vehicles – ISW
