The first image in that link - the armoured vehicle looks almost Hetzer like, although the fixed turret doesn't look to go all the way back as would a Hetzer's, also hard to tell if the canon is offset. My knowledge of post war soviet armoured vehicles is poor, but I'm guessing something of that ilk? rb
Necroing to put some fun links, but anyway, it looks there are a few people who are still using the T-34. First off, I should note that this is all coming from this website: https://wwiiafterwwii.wordpress.com/ Which has a lot of fun and kind of random posts about various pieces of WW2 gear that was being used after V-J Day (some times long after, some times until now) Wikipedia gives the sourceless list for current operators as Mali, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and North Korea. I think we can cross Mali and Somalia off the list, as I can't find anything that says they've actually been seen in those two countries recently (and Mali had to dig pretty hard to hold out against Islamist attacks, so I think we would have. For Somalia, I just can't believe we haven't seen them after 25 years of war. There may be some derelicts hanging around in the country side). And surprisingly (considering everything else that showed up, including a bunch of StG-44s and German WW2 era artillery)...T-34s did not make an appearance in Syria. They have been seen in action in Yemen, but it's not sure if any are still doing so. North Korea: as noted, had at least one operational T-34 filmed in an exercise in 2013. I'd feel comfortable thinking they probably have more in reserve of unknown quality/condition. Additionally, a number of their patrol craft and gunboats for their Navy use T-34 (and IS-2/3) turrets in lieu of actual naval guns onboard...which, totally counts for the purpose of this discussion, I guess? Vietnam: moved the last of their units into reserve in 2010, apparently. With one big exception: some are located in their garrisons in the Spratly Islands, and the Vietnamese lack the logistical capability to move them, so have left them there in operational order. There are probably a few other countries which have some (different sources give different lists), but that appears to be a decent one as of 2017.
I have seen a photo of a defense line in Syria with T-34 tanks used as stationary guns. I don't recall the source and it was hard to tell whether they were operational or not.
Apart from Mali not having used any armour at all - other than BTRs - against islamist - or other rebel - attacks to my knowledge (there was at least one rebel group with a company's worth of PT-76 "collected" around Gao), one proof that at least by now the T-34 is no longer in service there is the fact that the EU training mission in Mali - EUTM08 in 2016, by Swedish and Italian troops - only trained local personnel in the use of T-54 and PT-76. The Type 62 light tanks also seem to have been abandoned.
Meanwhile the T-34 continues to serve in Yemen. Though it's not clear whether this is combat footage or just propaganda. Honestly though, it can probably take out most modern light armor, so it's potentially relevant, especially against a thoroughly incompetent adversary like the Saudis. Ammo and spares are probably the biggest hurdles this tank faces. А в Йемене Т-34 продолжают воевать..
Agree with the incompetent part. One has to wonder how things would have changed had Saddam pushed all the way into Saudi Arabia. At the very least, Gulf War I would have been much more difficult, assuming Saddam's forces could take Saudi Arabia out. Fortunately for Saudi Arabia, Saddam's military never got the chance to prove Iraq's competency.
It's often mentioned that the most logical thing Saddam could have done was to push on further south, to the oilfields. From a military perspective yes but from a political one, no. His intention was not to turn Saudi into an enemy and give a pretext for American intervention. Bear in mind that Saddam was convinced that the Americans wouldn't intervene even after he had taken Kuwait [entering Saudi was something he knew would lead to American intervention] and that the idea or plan was that after taking Kuwait; the Gulf Arabs would appease him by offering him concessions.
Wouldn't Saddam's invasion of Kuwait pretty much turned the Saudis against him anyway? I agree the Americans would have absolutely had to come to Saudi Arabia to push Saddam out had he managed to takeover ( a big if). What would the American response been had he offered to withdraw from Saudi Arabia in return for keeping some of Kuwait? I can still remember the fears for huge causalites prior to Gulf War 1 even with a launch from Saudi Arabia. If this option wasn't available, an offer to leave in exchange for part of Kuwait might have seemed pretty attractive compared to an all out assault to retake both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait although perhaps the Americans knew with certainly how well their new war technology would work.
Saddam's plans was based on the premise that after taking Kuwait; the rest of the Gulf Arabs would attempt to appease him by offering him concessions and more economic aid; as they'd done in the past. American pressure or urging played a huge part in the decision by the Gulf Arabs to oppose Saddam - Cheney and others had an emergency meeting with the Saudi King and the satellite pics they showed of Iraqi troops along the common border led to the Saudi decision to invite the Americans in. At one point the Gulf Arabs planned on negotiations with Saddam, to enable him to save face [by withdrawing from Kuwait after announcing that he had received something in return] and to safeguard their own security. Ironic how things turned out. Just a few years before the Gulf Arabs were pumping in billions to enable Saddam to maintain his war against Iran and the Americans were proving intel to the Iraqis. USN ships in the Gulf considered Iraqi planes as non hostile and on occasion even warned Iraqi pilots of the presence of the Iranians. I still remember the photo of a beaming Rumsfeld meeting Saddam in Baghdad and that of a shot down Iraqi pilot being presented with a memento on a USN ship that rescued him.
The latest instance of T-34-85 use in combat, a T-34-85 used by pro-Saudi Yemeni forces was destroyed by a Houthi ATGM. The machine saw a surprising amount of action in this conflict, given it's age, and the ease with which far more modern tanks were destroyed. Уничтожение Т-34-85 под Дамтом
The excitement in Yemen continues, as a second T-34-85 is destroyed by a Houthi ATGM. Опять Т-34 подбили в Йемене…( All of this comes as an entire btln of Czechoslovak produced T-34-85s was acquired from Laos by Russia to use for historic parades. They will be assigned to the Kantemirovskaya Gds Armored Division. В Кантемировской танковой дивизии создан батальон танков Т-34-85 В Кантемировской дивизии появился еще один танковый батальон
Some people are easily excitable It's nice to see history being kept alive for the generations that follow.
Perhaps I am guilty of that. Still it's interesting to see these venerable machines in action once more. To be honest it's rather fake history. The Russian government, without openly saying it, is treating these tanks like they were Soviet WWII ear T-34-85s. They're not though. They're a post-war Czechoslovak export, and they have ranking officers making speeches about "the glorious return of these tanks to the motherland". I was much more interested to see Kubinka restore a T-35 to driveable condition.
