Posted on 01/14/2019 11:07:08 AM PST by BenLurkin
(CNN)Russia is taking back World War II-era tanks from Laos because, well, Moscow needs a star, lots of them. The Russian Defense Ministry said this week that 30 T-34 tanks had arrived in the far eastern port of Vladivostok after a 4,500-kilometer (2,800-mile) journey from the Southeast Asian nation. They soon will be on their way to the Moscow area.
Until recently, the tanks were on active duty in the Laotian military, almost 80 years after first being introduced into the Soviet military in 1940.
T-34 production continued into the Cold War, with more than 80,000 produced in all. Thousands were exported around the world.
"The equipment transferred by the Lao side is planned to be used during the Victory Parades in various cities of Russia, for updating museum exhibits, as well as for making historical films about the Great Patriotic War," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
And if you need any more evidence of that need and popularity, a feature-length film about Soviet soldiers and the tank, titled "T-34," broke Russian box office records last week, according to news reports.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
I am very surprised they (Moscow) could not find less expensive, more easily repaired T34 tanks across Russia, rather than getting them back from tropical heat, humidity, and rust and neglect.
I want one. The deer around here destroy my garden every year. Enough is enough!
Most of them are in poor condition. Some may not run, lot of work before you can run down deer in your personal T-34/85; not to mention the import fees and permits.
Yeah, communist Laotian preventive maintenance is among the world’s best.
In 1972 we were shown recognition pix of the T-34/85 which was depicted in Quan Doi Nhan Dan in mass formation but all we ever saw & knocked out were T-54’s and T-55’s.
Another fine Russian movie where the English is dubbed in. Sorry. Difficult to read and watch a movie at the same time....
then learn Russian its just a notch below English in difficulty - if you know Latin it should be a snap with every word being able to decline and once you get past the alphabet. Watch out for abbreviation - they have there own dictionary ...
I read the article but I don’t understand. Did Russia demand the T-34’s back from Laos?
Yes, they “got them” back from Loas, but I didn’t get the impression it was a “steal” or an intimidation. Probably cash for clunkers deal, with an option for modern military “real” equipment more important.
Putin is a Communist, but he understands the real world. A “mad client” does not buy again. And, in Putin’s world, making the WWII USSR/RMother Russia stnad victorious again is very, very important.
And the T34 (for all of its faults) was a world-beater at the time. He HAS TO continue its (past) glories.
Our own F84 and P80 jets are on display worldwide as 3rd world jets. They too are bought, brought to the US and flown. As private enterprises, but the same idea.
As it turned out, I never had any opportunity to use Russian. However, I was stationed in Thailand, and my previous experience in learning a new alphabet along with a new language stood me in good stead.
Just Commies helping each other out.
Will it be playing here, or available on streaming, etc? Gotta be better than any of the trash that's come out of H-wood... "recently"...
“Hell yes, is dangerous!! Is TANK!!”
30 Russian WWII tanks in Laos
Boy! Did they take a wrong turn in Albuquerkutsk!
That is in Bugs Bunski speak.
I picked Russian over French because, while I had many years of French (and Latin) and understood it fairly well even to 17th Century French, French was a ticket to Nam. So I opted or Russian ...
The T-34 is generally considered either one of the best, or the best, tank of WWII. In very iterations of the design, the USSR built a staggering 80,000 of them for the war.
During the war, the Germans knocked out and/or captured and repurposed, a staggering 70,000 T-34s.
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