OSINT analyst Jompy, who tracks equipment at Russian military storage facilities and factories, spotted hundreds of T-72A hulls near Uralvagonzavod (UVZ). This enterprise is one of the key ones in Russian tank building, producing T-90M and BMPT, but in recent years has focused mainly on repairing and upgrading T-72Bs to the T-72B3M version.
The T-72A is significantly different from the T-72B. The latter has better protection, a different engine, and an improved chassis.
The first signs of T-72A recovery from storage bases appeared back in July 2025, when satellite images recorded the movement of these vehicles at the 349th storage base. This may indicate that the stocks of T-72Bs suitable for repair are practically exhausted, and Russia is forced to remove obsolete T-72A tanks from storage.
OSINT analysts have been counting equipment at storage bases for a long time. As of 2022, there were 7,342 tanks at the bases. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of tanks has decreased to 3,094 units. At the same time, the more modern T-80 tanks have been completely exhausted, and among the remnants, mainly T-62s from the 1960s and T-72s remain.
In 2022, there were about 1,478 T-72B units at the bases, but by 2025, only 292 units remained in various states. In contrast, significantly more T-72A tanks survived: from 1,142 in 2022, about 900 remain today.
Russia has used the T-72A on the front to a limited extent, relying on the modernized T-72B3M of the 2016/22 model and the T-80BV/BVM. This is explained by the easier modernization of the T-72B under sanctions conditions - due to the use of older optics and the younger age of the vehicles in storage.
The share of T-72A losses at the front never exceeded 20% of the total losses of tanks of this model.
Tank historian and founder of the specialized portal "BTVT Info" Andriy Tarasenko points to three possible scenarios for the T-72A. The first is restoration and possible modernization with the installation of "Relict" dynamic protection.
Currently, due to a shortage of kits, the Russians are forced to also use the older "Kontakt-5" and even "Kontakt-1", which have worse protection characteristics.
The second option for using the T-72A could be to convert it into a tank support combat vehicle (BMPT-72). This is a heavy combat vehicle designed not for transporting infantry, but for fire support during an offensive.
Recently, patents have appeared on the Internet describing such a modernization: the turret is removed from the tank, and the chassis is equipped with an adapter ring for installing a BMPT combat module with the necessary equipment.
The BMPT has already proven its effectiveness thanks to its high level of protection and powerful combat module — in particular, due to the placement of fuel in isolated compartments and the removal of some units outside the armored hull.
The BMPT-72 is inferior to it in terms of protection, as it is based on the T-72A chassis without the structural changes made to the BMPT. At the same time, in terms of firepower, it remains a full-fledged combat vehicle on a tank chassis, in which the crew is reduced to three people instead of five in the BMPT.
The third scenario is the conversion of T-72A tanks into heavy robotic complexes "Shturm", which involve remote control. Similar vehicles have already been spotted near the air defense zone, but, as in the case of the T-14 "Armata", their appearance at the front is likely mainly in propaganda materials.
The future prospects of the Russian tank forces remain uncertain. The previous stockpiles of equipment allowed the army to maintain combat readiness for three years and will be a source of replenishment for some time to come. At the same time, the quality of these vehicles is gradually declining, and their shortage is becoming increasingly noticeable at the front.
Read about the reasons for the degradation of Russian armored forces and their current state in the article of "Defense": "Zhiguli" instead of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles: how and why is Russian armored vehicles degrading?