Medvedev shocked NATO states modernise Soviet T-72 tanks for Ukraine

Russia needs to work faster and more efficiently on tanks, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, First Deputy Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission (MIC) said after visiting JSC 61st Armoured Repair Plant in St. Petersburg.

Medvedev drew the attention of those present to the fact that Western countries financed the modernisation of 100 tanks of the Soviet T-72 model to subsequently ship those tanks to Ukraine.

"I want to stress this out: they are not foreign tanks, but the T-72. They did that to supply them to Ukraine from the Soviet legacy. In fact, our adversaries are doing the same, and we must act faster, more persistently and more efficiently at this point,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev also said that those responsible for repeated failures to fulfill state defence contracts would face criminal liability.

"This is new normal, we have not done this before, but one must understand that if necessary, we will be forced to resort to that," he explained.

On December 26, Russian President Putin appointed Medvedev to the position of his first deputy in the military and industrial complex. This is the first time such a position has appeared in the country. In accordance with Putin's decree, the first deputy is empowered to independently hold meetings of the military and industrial complex instead of the chairman.