During the period of active hostilities in Ukraine, more than 40% of old Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers were removed from storage at the largest known military equipment storage base in Buryatia, according to recent Google Earth satellite images.
According to Google Earth, the Vagzhanovo base in Buryatia is the largest in Russia, The Moscow Times reports. The base, which is located near Ulan-Ude, covers an area of about 11 square kilometers, which is significantly larger than the area of twenty other known military equipment storage bases in Russia.
In September 2021, five months before the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, about 3,840 pieces of armored vehicles were stored in the open air at the Vagzhanovo base, as can be seen on Google Earth satellite images. Thus, by November 2022, after 8 months of hostilities, the number of armored vehicles at the base had decreased to about 2600, and by May 2023 - to 2270. Thus, during this time, 1570 armored vehicles were removed from the base, which is 40.8%. It is important to note that most of this equipment (32%) was removed after the mobilization was announced at the end of 2022.
