Vladimir Putin has been forced to recall dozens of creaking T-55 tanks used by Russian Hollywood as props in war films.
The army has raided Mosfilm’s warehouses in its desperation to invade Ukraine.
Desperate Russian President Putin thanked film chief Karen Shakhnazarov for outdated Cold War military hardware during a meeting at the Kremlin.
“We handed over to the (Russian) armed forces 28 T-55 tanks, eight PT-76 tanks, six BMPs (fighting vehicles) and eight tractors that we stored at the military-technical base,” Shakhnazarov said.
“I discovered there was a need for it, contacted the Department of Defense and they took these vehicles. In short, these are our results.’
Putin recognized the importance of the contribution of geriatric military equipment. “We are proud of Mosfilm – thank you,” he said.
Shakhnazarov labeled the move as “charitable support” from the Russian film industry to Putin’s war.
The T-55 is a Russian-made main battle tank first produced in the late 1950s.
The Putin regime has been forced to recall dozens of creaking T-55 tanks used by Russian Hollywood as props in war films
“We handed over to the (Russian) armed forces 28 T-55 tanks, eight PT-76 tanks, six BMPs and eight tractors that we had stored at the military-technical base,” Karen Shakhnazarov (left) told Vladimir. Putin (right)
Putin’s army has recalled cracking tanks and armored vehicles from Russian Hollywood known as Mosfilm that were used in war films
Russia was known to have looted its vaults of retired tanks – some of which were in museums – but the revelation about the use of the film industry’s collection of old tanks is new.
Shakhnazarov, 72, is a prominent Russian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter.
Since 1998 he has been director general of Mosfilm, the country’s largest and oldest film studio, also known as Russian Hollywood.
He publicly supported Putin’s grip on Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine mocked its use of film props, many of which were taken from Soviet-era Red Army stockpiles.
“After emptying the warehouses of Soviet weapons, the Russian army put into service fake 1950s armored vehicles from the Mosfilm warehouses,” cable broadcaster Pravda Gerashchenko reported.
It labeled Shakhnazarov a “part-time propagandist” who “announced such a generous donation during a personal audience with Putin in the Kremlin.”