in Russia, the mystery of the stockpiles of weapons from the Soviet era

Winter is approaching in Ukraine. The negative temperatures are hurting the Russian and Ukrainian troops on the ground. Russia, in difficulty in recent weeks in the face of the advance of the local army, nevertheless relies on its stock of weapons to win the war. It must be said that a large part of them are inherited from the USSR. The superpower’s military might remains gigantic more than 30 years after its demise. Nearly 2.5 million people are still capable of producing simple weapons, such as abuses or rockets, to supply the more than 2,000 artillery pieces at the front and the thousands more in stock.

Another remnant of the USSR still available: tanks usable to come out of the hangars if necessary. About 7,000 of them would be available. Old and slow, the latter are nevertheless sufficient to hold a position. Coming straight from the 1970s, the K22, a very imprecise but very destructive anti-ship missile, can prove particularly useful in the Ukrainian conflict.

Strategic stocks

Between 2,000 to 3,000 copies of these missiles are produced by the Soviet Union, and were used only slightly before the fall of communist power. On board: seven tons of explosives.

Clearly, if the recent share of armaments dwindles, Russia having only about 700 modern missiles to launch before having exhausted its stocks, the country can count on its Soviet stocks. But the Kremlin keeps the secret on the quantity of weapons issued from the communist regime. A huge unknown that weighs on the future of the fronts.