VLADIMIR Putin's battlefield efforts have become desperate as the warmonger has been forced to build "Frankenstein tanks" with ageing naval guns welded on top.
Russia's failed campaign in Ukraine has seen its military already lose more than 1,700 tanks and its dwindling armoury stockpile has meant the Kremlin needed to improvise.
Images have emerged of the crudely-engineered vehicles being deployed in Ukraine.
Footage from an undisclosed location appeared to show a 25mm 2M-3 twin-barrelled naval anti-aircraft turret fitted to a Soviet-era MT-LB amphibious fighting vehicle.
The bizarre contraption is believed to be built with machinery parts from 1945.
Its guns were likely taken from a naval patrol boat, while its tracks could date back to the 1950s.
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The "Frankenstein tanks" are believed to be an improvised response to the Kremlin's shortage of essential war materials.
Ukrainian forces have also destroyed large numbers of Russian tanks through the use of drones, which Putin has been unable to replace.
Videos obtained by The Sun Online showed Russian tanks being obliterated in the Donbas region.
Justin Crump, an intelligence and geopolitical risk analyst, told The Telegraph he believed Russia was forced to use a naval turret because its sea fleet still had a surplus in gear.
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He said: "I suspect it was improvised from naval turrets as they had access to them and the relevant ammunition."
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British tank commander, said he witnessed similar vehicles adapted by Islamic State fighters in the Middle East.
He said: "The fact that a supposed first-world army is cobbling together different bits of kit not dissimilar to terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda and ISIS hopefully shows the perilous state of the Russian army."
His claims follow Putin suffering one of his worst defeats since the start of the war in Ukraine.
During the battle of Vuhledar, it was estimated Russia was losing up to 300 soldiers a day and left behind more than 100 military vehicles in total ruins.
The Britain’s Ministry of Defence echoed this sentiment and confirmed Russia had taken more than 800 old tanks out of deep storage in response to its heavy losses of armour.
An MoD spokesman said: "There is a realistic possibility that even units of the 1st Guards Tank Army, supposedly Russia’s premier tank force, will be re-equipped with T-62s to make up for previous losses."
Russian BTR-50 armoured personnel carriers, which first entered into service in 1954, have also been deployed to Ukraine.
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