December 6, 2024: Since early 2023 Russia has been moving ancient T-54 and T-55 tanks out of storage for use in Ukraine. The 36-ton T-54 was the first post-World War II tank. It used a 100mm gun and a four man crew. Introduced slowly in the late 1940s, it became more numerous during the 1950s. A major upgrade, the T-55, was introduced in 1958. About 100,000 T-54/55 tanks were built from 1948 to 1981. Two-thirds of these were T-55s. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia inherited over 10,000 operational T-55s and a few T-54s. The best of these were put into storage and there are believed to be over a thousand of these tanks still available.

Nearly all modern T-72/80/90 Russian tanks were destroyed or worn out in Ukraine during the early 2022 battles. Russia brought 600 T-62s out of storage to meet the needs of troops in combat and these tanks also suffered heavy losses.

These tanks were from the early 1960s. T-55s are easy to use and robust. They are adequate for supporting infantry although there is a shortage of 100 mm tank gun ammunition. The T-55 also has 7.62mm and a 12.7mm machine gun, for which there is plenty of ammunition. The T-55 is vulnerable to the simplest anti-tank weapons like the Ukrainian RPG anti-tank rocket or the American M72 LAW.