Russia Deploys Stalin-Era Howitzers to Ukraine Front Lines

Russia has deployed hundreds of its 70-year-old howitzers to the Ukrainian front line, according to analysts, as both Kyiv and Moscow lose significant amounts of equipment on the battlefield more than two years into the war.

At least 65 of Russia's estimated 665 1950s M-46 howitzers had been removed from storage to be used on the battlefield in Ukraine by February 2024. This is likely to make up for artillery losses, data from OSINT analyst on X (formerly Twitter) High_Marsed, first cited by Forbes magazine, shows.

By the summer, the OSINT analyst said that Russia's military had "probably taken about half of the stored 130mm M-46 from storage."

Russia and Ukraine are both suffering significant losses of its troops and equipment amid intense fighting in the Ukrainian east. Moscow kick-started an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10, seizing a number of villages on Ukraine's northeastern frontier, but that effort has since slowed.

In January, analysts with Defense Express, a Ukrainian security and defense publication, uncovered photos that showed Russian forces had started using the M-46 howitzers in the ongoing war, but the outlet said it wasn't clear how many had been removed from storage.

"These photos do not allow us to count the probable number of M-46 guns that the enemy deconserved. We can only record the fact that the Russian troops have moved on to remove such a Soviet artillery system from storage and began actively use them," the analysts said, adding that Russia's military had some 350 of the M-46 howitzers in storage.

The analysts said that the weapons were being deployed in Ukraine to make up for equipment losses Russia has sustained in the war. It is also due to their firing range—up to 27 kilometers (16 miles) with a conventional high-explosive projectile and 37 kilometers (22 miles) when using active-reactive projectiles.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, which posts figures on Russia's troop and equipment losses as part of its daily update on the war, said Russia lost 54 artillery systems in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 15,465.

Moscow has also lost 15,883 armored combat vehicles, 8,245 tanks, 20,833 vehicles and fuel tanks, 361 military jets, 326 helicopters, and 28 warships in the ongoing war, Kyiv's military said in its update on Thursday.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said in an update on Wednesday that its military has destroyed 628 Ukrainian aircraft, 277 helicopters, 27,709 drones, 552 anti-aircraft missile systems, 16,602 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,379 multiple-launch rocket systems, 12,013 pieces of field artillery and mortars, and 23,772 units of special military vehicles so far.

Newsweek has not independently verified these figures.

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