Vladimir Putin is being ridiculed by the Defense Ministry for using tanks “designed to be TRACTORS” with “only a machine gun for protection”.

VLADIMIR Putin was ridiculed by the Defense Ministry for using tanks “designed as tractors” with only a machine gun for protection.

It is the latest sign that Russia is running out of decent equipment and resorting to the use of obsolete weapons in Ukraine, an intelligence report said yesterday.

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The Defense Ministry also dismissed Mad Vlad’s claim that Russia “hadn’t even started” in Ukraine.

The damning report claims Moscow is replenishing its ranks in eastern Ukraine with reserve infantry as its troops complete a redeployment after capturing Luhansk – half of the Donbass region.

The UK Ministry of Defense also confirmed that Russia is deploying “worn and lightly armed” MT-LB personnel carriers that “have long been considered unsuitable for most front-line infantry transport roles”.

“It was originally designed in the 1950s as an artillery tractor, has very limited armor and is equipped with a machine gun only for protection,” the intelligence report said.

The outdated tank was designed as a Cold War “amphibious tractor” capable of carrying 10 soldiers, a driver and a gunner in its cramped and airless cargo hold.

It comes as Moscow deployed the 200th Motorized Infantry Brigade of its feared Arctic Fleet to fill a manpower gap in eastern Ukraine.

Russian media reported the tactical move, while Ukrainian intelligence said Moscow was deploying a new infantry corps near Nizhny Novgorod.

Rob Lee, a war student at King’s College London, said the brigade was involved in a battle near Kharkiv and lost a large amount of equipment, according to the Telegraph.

He said the brigade now consists of “Reservists, Volunteers and Military Police Soldiers, Coast Defense Units and Sailors
of ships”.

This cobbled-together operation reflects the terrible compromises Russia had to make to strengthen its armies in the Donbass, four months after the start of a war that is believed to have killed more than 30,000 of its soldiers.

It comes months after Mad Vlad’s troops went on record complaining bitterly about their shoddy gear, including flimsy helmets and useless first-aid kits.

In a video that went viral, a soldier crushes a Russian helmet with just his foot to show the poor quality.

Putin’s mercenaries have also shared pictures of their substandard first-aid kit alongside the Ukrainian one to show the contrast in the equipment.

Russian troops were sent to war with a kit that appeared to contain nothing more than several instruction manuals and something to tie a tourniquet.

Russian troops, who are said to have posted the picture on social media, complained, “Putin and Shoigu brought us this,” citing Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The original source of the photo is unclear, but it is believed to have originally been shared on several popular Russian Telegram accounts and blogs, including one crowdfunding the purchase of Putin’s soldier gear.

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