picture 229699

UKRAINIAN T-72 AND RUSSIAN T-72BM3 - The T-72 was one of the staples of the Soviet tank fleet and remains in service on both sides of the war. Ukraine had largely upgraded its T-72/72As to the new AMT standard, with ERA and other improvements, but the immediate demands of the invasion forced them also to take unmodernized tanks out of storage, especially for the Territorial Defence Forces. The top picture is of a Ukrainian T-72 assigned to one of the few tank platoons in the 114th Independent Territorial Brigade, part of the Kyiv Region security forces. Below is a substantially more-advanced Russian T-72B3 from a BTG generated by the 27th Independent Guards Sevastopol Red Banner Motor Rifle Brigade, part of the Western Military District forces based near Moscow. Note the NSVT heavy machine gun on the turret and the additional slat armour to the rear and Kontakt-5 ERA on the turret and glacis.