Late War Soviet Armor used postwar

[OldBill]

I have read an account in one of my books (not sure which) wherein a Soviet tanker from WWII stated that some of the late war tanks and TD's were put into storage in the far eastern territories for use in case of war with China. IIRC he stated that some of this was there until the 1960's. Do any of you have any amplifying information they could add?

[Sheldrake]

This sounds like "Victor Suvarov" the pseudo name of a GRU defector. In one of his books maybe "Liberators"? he makes this claim. There is a grain of truth. Sure a modern tank or missile might easily take out a plan 1940s tank. But, in all out war how long might stocks of the really clever and expensive munitions last? Each clever Surface to surface munition costs about the same as a luxury car. Once you have used this stuff a T34/85 is king of the battlefield.

[Art]

Both T-34-85 and IS-2s remained in service with combat units long after the war. IS-2 was modernized as IS-2M in late 50s- early 60s. Some IS-2s were employed as static pillboxes until the most recent time:
https://zen.yandex.ru/media/dv_destroy/ ... 0e21e00ec1

[OldBill]

Thanks for that Art, the page was quite interesting. Where were the photos taken? As an aside I like Yandex as a search engine.

[OldBill]

Sheldrake I am unsure if the book was by Suvarov, but I have my doubts. I try to steer clear of his works. IIRC the statement made came from a former Soviet tanker from WWII, who stayed in the military after the war. My books are boxed up now so I cant trawl through them.

[Art]

Thanks for that Art, the page was quite interesting. Where were the photos taken?

Iturup island on Kurils.