Why Russia is getting back 30 World War II tanks from Laos

CNN ^ | January 14, 2019 | Brad Lendon,

[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.

[Paal Gulli]

Best laugh I’ve had all day. Thanks!

[Paal Gulli]

"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 ..."

French tanks are much easier to identify on the battlefield than Russian tanks. The French are the ones with the turret lying upside-down on the ground next to the tub.

[PIF]

Russian tanks are frequently found under water where they remained after having their snorkels ripped off during a river crossing - if you listened at the right time you could even hear the screams as the crew drowned ...

[Raymann]

I tried and the alphabet was very easy to pick. The rest though...

[PIF]

The rest ... one of my teachers wrote one word on a 6x4 blackboard ... maybe 3 inch high letters ... the word went from one side to the other plus another row and maybe a half more. One accent only, naturally the word declined ... don’t ask what the word was - I’ve long forgotten.