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Ukraine's abandoned tank graveyard could be needed if tensions with Russia escalate | Mail Online
These incredible photographs show a huge tank graveyard in the Ukraine - home to hundreds of the abandoned vehicles which the country may desperately need if tensions with Russia continue to escalate.
Filled with rows upon rows of slowly rusting relics, the once deadly war machines now lie dormant in a secret depot in the city of Kharkiv in the Slobozhanshchyna region of eastern Ukraine - just 20 miles from the border with Russia.
Despite it being heavily guarded, photographer Pavel Itkin, 18, was able to sneak into the plant and spent several hours taking photographs.
Once a thriving tank repair plant, work at the depot wound down after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, with many of the vehicles on site abandoned.
The plant once specialised in the overhaul and modernisation of T-64, T-72, and T-80 tanks built at the nearby Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv.
The T-64 is a Soviet-era main battle tank first built in the early 1960s. The T-72 was introduced in the 1970s and went on to become one of the most widely produced tanks of the late 20th Century.
The T-80 entered service alongside the T-72 in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.
The tank is still used by Ukraine today, with variants adopted by Russia, Belarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and South Korea.
These incredible photographs show a huge tank graveyard in the Ukraine - home to hundreds of the abandoned vehicles which the country may desperately need if tensions with Russia continue to escalate.
Filled with rows upon rows of slowly rusting relics, the once deadly war machines now lie dormant in a secret depot in the city of Kharkiv in the Slobozhanshchyna region of eastern Ukraine - just 20 miles from the border with Russia.
Despite it being heavily guarded, photographer Pavel Itkin, 18, was able to sneak into the plant and spent several hours taking photographs.
Once a thriving tank repair plant, work at the depot wound down after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, with many of the vehicles on site abandoned.
The plant once specialised in the overhaul and modernisation of T-64, T-72, and T-80 tanks built at the nearby Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv.
The T-64 is a Soviet-era main battle tank first built in the early 1960s. The T-72 was introduced in the 1970s and went on to become one of the most widely produced tanks of the late 20th Century.
The T-80 entered service alongside the T-72 in 1976 and was the first production tank to be equipped with a gas turbine engine for main propulsion.
The tank is still used by Ukraine today, with variants adopted by Russia, Belarus, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and South Korea.
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