Russia needed armor so badly that its biggest film studio donated 36 Soviet-era tanks that were used as props

Mosfilm’s director general said the movie studio had donated 36 tanks, including the aging T-55, to Russia’s defense ministry.

As Russia hunts for more war gear, its biggest film studio has stepped up — with movie props.

The director general of Mosfilm, Karen Shakhnazarov, met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to discuss the studio’s profits and film capacity.

They spoke mainly on their aspirations for the company, with Shakhnazarov boasting that Mosfilm was on par in scale with Hollywood firms like Warner Bros. and Universal.

Then, Shakhnazarov ended the conversation on a note about the war in Ukraine.

“By the way,” Shakhnazarov said, according to a transcript published by the Kremlin. “In 2023, we handed over 28 T-55 tanks, eight PT-76 tanks, six infantry fighting vehicles, and eight trucks we had in our military department to the Armed Forces.”

“I knew that they needed them,” Shakhnazarov added, saying Russia’s defense ministry took the vehicles into its inventory.

“Mosfilm is our pride,” Putin responded, per the transcript.

The head of Mosfilm, Shakhnazarov, met with Putin on Wednesday. 

It’s not immediately clear whether any of Mosfilm’s tanks saw action in Ukraine or whether they were even in the right condition to be usable on the battlefield.

Mosfilm’s website says the studio has over 190 armored vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and self-propelled guns, though it described them as being “disguised” as equipment from various periods.

“All equipment is props (stage production equipment), is in good working order, and is ready for filming several movies simultaneously,” the website reads.

The early Soviet-era tanks mentioned by Shakhnazarov — the medium tank T-55 and light tank PT-76 — were produced in the 1940s and 1950s.

The T-55, one of the most produced tanks in the world, was a hallmark of the early Cold War. It’s so old that it’s featured in museums.

Some militaries around the world still use these tanks. But they’re two generations behind the modern arms being used today, and have been largely considered obsolete in Russia’s military.

Still, Shakhnazarov’s statement comes as Moscow has struggled to maintain its inventory of armored vehicles amid heavy losses in the last two years.

Figures from Dutch open-source tracking group Oryx say that Russia has lost 10,888 armored vehicles since the war began, including 3,558 tanks.

Moscow has been driving up production to fill the gap, dumping a record 6% of its GDP into defense spending on guns, ammunition, and equipment.

The strain on its forces began showing more clearly in 2023, as open-source intelligence groups noticed tanks from the 1940s, including the T-55 and its older cousin, the T-54, being taken out of storage.

Those older tanks likely won’t fare well against modern armor, but researchers from the UK-based Royal United Services Institute said Russian troops have been deploying them to provide artillery support and long-range firepower.

The Russian Defense Ministry and Mosfilm did not respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by B-17.