He shared the information on Espreso TV.
"A few days ago, Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would be able to produce 1,500 new tanks. Putin has already said that there will be 1,600 new and modernized tanks. I will not be surprised if they soon announce that there will be 1,600 new and modernized tanks, as well as AFVs and armored personnel carriers," Katkov explained.
The expert emphasized that Russian armored plants cannot restore and produce tanks at a high rate
"Everything that Russians take out of storage, all the old tanks, are not sent to the front line immediately. Tanks and armored vehicles are sent by armored plants, which are few in number in Russia. If we talk about specialized armored plants, there are only 4 of them in Russia. All other factories in Russia have been closed down. In addition, those plants that are still operating cannot operate at the high rate of production required by the authorities in Russia," he added.
On March 25, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that arms supplies to Ukraine pose a threat to Russia, while claiming that Russia would produce three times as much ammunition and tanks as the Ukrainian Armed Forces receive from Western partners.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, is skeptical about Russian propagandists’ idea of removing World War II-era T-34 tanks from storage